Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo has claimed that his classy chip unsettled England during the penalty shootout between the two sides.
The Azzurri knocked England out of Euro 2012 after a 4-2 victory on penalties, following a goalless 120 minutes in which the Italians had dominated.
The Three Lions were leading in the shootout before Pirlo stepped up and cooly chipped his penalty straight down the middle to level the contest, and the Juventus midfielder believes that it was his spot-kick that caused England to buckle under the pressure.
"Joe Hart was doing some strange movements, so when he dived I decided to take it like that and it went well," Pirlo told Rai Sport.
"It put a bit of pressure on their takers and in fact Ashley Young missed his penalty after that.
"England did not create any chances during the match. They played for the penalty shootout, while we wanted to win.
"We knew we could dominate the match, and all that England did was defend. We used up more energy than we expected, but we were able to win the match."
Italy face Germany in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 on Thursday.
Matt Cotton
