“We let people down” - Gianluigi Donnarumma apologises to Italy fans after embarrassing Euro 2024 exit, supporters reject plea from him
Italy national team captain Gianluigi Donnarumma apologized to fans after being eliminated from Euro 2024. The Blues faced an embarrassing 2-0 defeat against Switzerland in the Round of 16 on June 29, at Olympiastadion Berlin.
After the final whistle, the captain took the entire squad under the section of Italian fans and supporters to apologize to them. However, they did not receive the reaction they expected from the fans, who jeered and asked the players to go away.
Switzerland opened the scoring in the 37th minute with Remo Freuler's goal from an assist by Ruben Vargas. The latter doubled the score just a minute into the second half. The 25-year-old attacking midfielder was named Player of the Match.
Italy had only one shot on target in the entire match and failed to score which led to their exit from Euro 2024. Gianluigi Donnarumma apologized to the fans and told RAI Sport and Sky Sport Italia:
"We can only apologise to everyone. It really hurts. We disappointed today and Switzerland deserved to win, so there’s nothing else to say. We struggled throughout the match, other than at the end where they sat a bit deeper and we were able to take the initiative, but we really should’ve done it earlier."
"In the first half we lost the ball too easily, we left them too many spaces, we weren’t pressing properly. It was tough, it is a very difficult game to swallow, but this is how it went and we have to accept that," added the Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper.
Italy have won the UEFA European Championship twice in 1968 and 2020 while ending up as runners-up in 2000 and 2012.
Gianluigi Donnarumma opines on Italy's performance in Euro 2024 Round of 16
Gianluigi Donnarumma opened up about what his squad "lacked" in their Euro 2024 Round of 16 clash against Switzerland. The former AC Milan goalkeeper, who made his senior debut for Italy in 2016, said (via Football Italia):
“We lacked a bit of everything today, we lacked courage and quality. The first half performance was so bad, because they always had the initiative and hurt us. In the second half, we were meant to start strong, instead we conceded immediately and that made it even tougher."
“We were disappointing, we let people down, we have to accept that. Switzerland had too much time to think, we were not aggressive enough. We lacked the desire to react, to help each other out. We lacked everything today," added Donnarumma.
Addressing the Italian squad's on-pitch mistakes that led to their Euro 2024 elimination, the 25-year-old shot-stopper said:
“I don’t think we are the team that we saw today. It was enormously disappointing, we never got into the game, we made cheap mistakes. We give credit to Switzerland for a great performance, but we should’ve done much, much better."
"There are many talented young players in the side who need experience, so they can do well in the future. I realise it is tough to accept these words right now, but we have to look to the future," concluded Donnarumma.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was named captain of the Italy squad for UEFA Euro 2024 in May 2024. He has maintained 28 clean sheets in 66 appearances across all competitions for his nation.