Two years on from becoming the villain of England's Euro 2020 final defeat, Giorgio Chiellini has admitted he finds criticism of his actions "boring".
The Italian veteran, making what ended up being his final major tournament appearance, dragged back Bukayo Saka as the Arsenal star looked to break free and cause Roberto Mancini's side problems. Saka would later go on to see his penalty shoot-out effort saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, handing the European Championships title to the Azzurri.
Two years on from the incident, Chiellini is playing in Major League Soccer for LA Galaxy while Saka has gone from strength to strength for club and country. Back in February, a few short months before the Arsenal man scored his first career hat-trick, the veteran reflected on that 2021 coming-together in a chat with Mirror Football .
"I am sorry!" Chiellini said with a laugh. "I was joking, it was funny. There were a lot of memes in Italy over the summer.
"After a little bit of time I was hurt, not for me, for me it doesn't matter, but I don't want fans of England or English players like Saka... if something happened on the pitch then it's something we can have jokes about. One time a fan wants to joke it's fine but after many times it became boring.
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"For me it was impossible to reach his speed and his pace and it's the only way. I did the mistake in order to get the ball. He was very smart to get the ball past me on the side, it's the only way to stop him before he took the ball to create a dangerous situation."
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Giorgio Chiellini angered England with his antics in the Euro 2020 final (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Saka, who was still a teenager at the time of the game, put the difficult night behind him almost instantly. He scored his first competitive England goal in his very next start, notching a goal and an assist in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra, and hit double figures for club goals for the first time in his career the following season.
Arsenal's number seven went one better last term, scoring 15 times for the Gunners in all competitions. He also scored his first brace for England at the 2022 World Cup - a tournament Chiellini and Italy failed to qualify for - followed by a maiden hat-trick against North Macedonia in June.
“It's been a very long season, some positives and of course some negatives," Saka told Channel 4 after the hat-trick, having narrowly missed out on a first Premier League title just weeks before. "But it's the end of the season now and I don't think I could have ended it in a better way, so it's time to relax and have a good break.
“A perfect end to the season. We're really happy with the turnout and the way the fans supported us from minute one to the end.”
Saka suffered penalty heartbreak in the same game (Getty Images)Italy's World Cup failure ended up spelling the end for Chiellini at international level. He made his final appearance for his country in the 2022 Finalissima against Argentina, before reflecting on a career which saw him win more than 100 senior caps over a span of nearly two decades.
"It has been, without a doubt, better than I could ever have imagined," he told UEFA.com. "When you're a kid, you dream of playing for the national team, because that's the ultimate. The thought of being able to play more than 100 games over the course of 18 years, being captain, and lifting an important cup like I did last year at Wembley was the icing on the cake.
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"I hope [the fans will] remember me as a good person. A person who personified [certain] values. On the pitch I have my strengths and weaknesses, and some will remember both. In the long run, you'll always remember the nicer things, that's normal."
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