Emanuele Giaccherini has revealed that his pre-match pep-talk helped inspire Italy to a 2-0 win over Spain.
The diminutive midfielder was a constant threat as Azzurri put the reigning champions to the sword, with Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini opening the scoring before Southampton’s Graziano Pelle ensured progression.
Italy will now face Germany in the quarter-finals with Giaccherini once again expected to start, and the 31-year-old will be hoping to see a similar performance from his team-mates against the world champions.
"Today I made the speech to the players before the game, telling them we needed heart because tactics can only take you so far, and we had heart.
“A different player makes the pre-match speech every time as we are a group and everyone plays their part.
"It should’ve been more than 2-0,” he continued. “We suffered towards the end of the second half, as we got too deep and they have exceptional players.
“We had so many chances and could certainly have finished it earlier.”
