“On the free-kick that led to the goal, it was Toloi who had to attack at the near post, but he left the innermost position to me – said Matteo Pessina, who scored the winner for the Azzurri in Italy-Wales, at the end of the match -, I took the ball and it went well. It’s a beautiful fairy tale, this shows that even those who come from the minor leagues through commitment, hard work and sacrifice can go far”.

With the one scored against Wales, his third for the senior national team, Matteo Pessina has become the player with the most goals scored for Italy in the history of Atalanta. He has overtaken Longoni who had scored two goals in 1956. Pessina is also the first Atalanta player to score a goal for Italy in the final stages of a major international tournament (European Championships and World Cup).

“There is a lot of Gasperini if I am here today – Matteo continued -, I owe almost everything I learned on the pitch to him, to his mentality of always running from midfielder and pressing high”.

Photo © UEFA
Italy-Wales, Matteo Pessina match-winner

Statistical source: Football Data