Following his beautifully struck penalty against England on Sunday night, Alessandro Diamanti has now kicked his way into Azzurri folklore.
Italian football has many of these heroes and the Bologna midfielder has now joined the ranks of players such as Marco Tardelli, Salvatore Schillachi, Francesco Toldo, Marco Materazzi and Fabio Grosso.
These are men who were not the stars of their respective Italian national sides and who not a great deal was expected of other than efficient performances when called upon.
In fact, aside from Tardelli and Grosso, none of the others (including Diamanti) were even supposed to start at the tournaments where they became heroes which only adds to the mystique and heroics surrounding them.
When you are a player who is not a regular in the side and in the eyes of many one who is there just to make up the squad numbers, to suddenly write your name into legend after finding yourself in the unlikely position to become a national hero is always a heartfelt moment.
Although Paolo Rossi was the undoubted Italian star of the tournament as he inspired Italy to the World Cup for the third time in 1982 due to his goalscoring exploits after returning from a lengthy ban, it was Tardelli who played his way into Azzurri history and football folklore when he struck in the World Cup Final against West Germany.
With Italy already a goal ahead through, you guessed it, Rossi himself when the ball broke to Tardelli on the edge of the penalty area and he rifled it home before taking off to celebrate the goal which had effectively secured his country the title in what is fondly remembered by many as being the greatest celebration of all time.
Tears coming to his eyes, mouth wide open and screaming in disbelieving ecstasy with his arms outstretched as his fists pumped incessantly under the Spanish sky as his teammates struggled to catch up with him, the Juventus midfielder secured his place as a national icon as he made it obvious just how much it all meant to him. 
While the Italian national side struggled for the rest of the decade to recapture the glory of that tournament, they were left lauding another new and equally unlikely hero eight years later as they played host to the biggest international competition.
Salvatore Schillachi had enjoyed a season previously in which he had scored 15 times which saw him narrowly selected for Azeglio Vicini’s squad as his final pick.
The player nicknamed ‘Toto’ certainly made the most of his opportunity that summer and become another of the unlikely players play their way into Italian football folklore as his goals aided a squad struggling in attack.
In the opening game, the hosts had significantly failed to break down a resilient Austria side when Schillachi came off the bench in place of Andrea Carnevale and scored the all-important winner.
In the final group game he again added to Roberto Baggio’s goal against Czechoslovakia to ensure Italy’s place in the knockout stages. These crucial goals alone would have been enough to confirm the myth of Schillachi (which was only heightened by constant rumours that he was selected for the side due to Mafia involvement) but he was not done there.
In the round of 16, he downed Uruguay and then against the Republic of Ireland in the quarter finals he again tapped home from close range to continue his phenomenal scoring run.
Unfortunately his and his team’s luck was out for the semi finals against Argentina because despite putting the Azzurri ahead, the hosts were eliminated on penalties.
One more goal followed in the third place play-off against England from the penalty spot which secured the Golden Boot but more importantly secured his place in the hearts of the Italian public due to becoming yet another unlikely hero.
Ten years later, joining Schillachi and Tardelli on this list of players who played their way into legend was yet another man who made his way to a tournament expecting to play much of it on the bench.
Gianluigi Buffon starred for Parma for the late 90s and was well on his way to becoming one of the world’s finest goalkeepers and was expected to play a major role for Italy at Euro 2000.
Having taken over the mantle as the side’s number one from Gianluca Pagliuca after the 1998 World Cup, he as in line to star at his first major international tournament having been a member of the World Cup squad two years previously without having played a game.
However, in a warm up game for the competition just eight days before Italy’s opening game against Turkey, Buffon broke his hand and the side was throw into uncertainty but they needn’t have worried. Step forward Francesco Toldo.
The Fiorentina net minder had an outstanding tournament as he played six times during which time he conceded only four goals and kept three clean sheets en route to a second placed finish.
His finest hour though undoubtedly came during the semi final against the Netherlands when it seemed as if Italy would just not be destined to get past the Oranje when Gianluca Zambrotta was sent off early in the game and Alessandro Nesta conceded a penalty.
He turned in a man of the match performance throughout and saved Frank De Boer’s resulting spot kick to ensure the tie would be decided on a penalty shootout.
Yet again from the opening kick, Toldo saved expertly from the Dutch captain De Boer before keeping out Paul Bosvelt’s penalty to send the Italians to a Final meeting with France which was ultimately lost in cruel circumstances.
Six years later though it was the turn of defensive duo Marco Materazzi and Fabio Grosso to forever embed their names in the history of calcio’s heroes and famous names as they too starred as unlikely heroes.
While the myth of Materazzi was increased owing to the fact that he was both the peninsula’s great hero and villain throughout the tournament, there is no questioning the impact he had and despite departing for Germany as a squad player and understudy to Alessandro Nesta, he returned an all-conquering star without whom Italy would not have won the unlikeliest of World Cups.
The Inter man saw no playing time in the opening two group games but in the third against the Czech Republic, Nesta picked up an injury that ruled him out of the rest of the tournament and was replaced by ‘Matrix.’
He had an instant impact by heading the opener in that game that Italy won 2-0 after Pippo Inzaghi added a second to see the side safely through to the next round.
It was in this game against Australia that Grosso joined Materazzi in carving out an illustrious piece of Italian football immortality as he won Italy a late penalty which Francesco Totti converted. Earlier in the game, true to form, Materazzi was sent off.
Italy coasted past Ukraine in the quarter finals to set up a semi final meeting with Germany in which Grosso chose his moment to shine.
With penalties looming as extra time drew to a close the ball fell to the Palermo defender just inside the area and he unleashed a glorious curling left foot effort that flew past Jens Lehmann and he took off in disbelieving celebration that brought to mind memories of Tardelli 24 years previously.
Arms outstretched in glory, Grosso shook his head incessantly screaming “I don’t believe it!” over and over as he sprinted wildly around the pitch. The goal itself was memorable enough in its beauty, the celebration confirmed its place in calcio’s greatest moments.
Alessandro Del Piero struck a minute later to set up a World Cup Final meeting with France in which both defenders shared the glory as Italy brought home the trophy.
Materazzi pounced in the first half to cancel out Zinedine Zidane’s opener from the penalty spot and then became involved in a war of words with the same player during extra time which saw the Frenchman lash out at the Lecce-born defender with a vicious headbutt for which he received his marching orders.
During the penalty shoot out which followed, Italy were one kick from securing one of the biggest honours in the sport and Grosso stepped up to take the decisive kick.
He calmly stroked the ball home with ease and as the net in Berlin bulged, his and Materazzi’s places in the folklore of Italian football were unquestioned as both men had enjoyed fairytale tournaments and although many of the plaudits were given to the sensational Fabio Cannavaro for his own fine tournament, the individual moments created by Grosso and ‘Matrix’ were enough for them to join the ranks of iconic Italians.
On Sunday night, Diamanti too joined this list of players for playing his part in bringing Italy to within one game of the European Championship Final.
After an outstanding season with Bologna, the attacker won his place in the squad on merit and was determined to show that he deserved to be rubbing shoulders with seasoned veterans such as Andrea Pirlo and Buffon.
A fleeting substitute appearance in the final group game against Ireland was not enough to show what he could do and he took full advantage of being given a bigger chance in the quarter final when he came on in the second half in place of Antonio Cassano.
With some bemoaning the decision to introduce the former West Ham man instead of a natural goalscorer like Antonio Di Natale, Diamanti immediately set about showing what he was capable of.
A long range effort troubled Joe Hart in the England goal who got down well to save before a lofted curling cross-come-shot from outside the area clipped the upright as he twice came close to giving Italy the lead.
When it came to the shoot out, it took nerves of steel for a player to step up who had played in only two previous games for La Nazionale but anyone who knows Diamanti knows that he is an extremely confident player who is clinical from dead ball situations.
Not even the unusual sight of an England fan who pulled his trousers down behind the goal in an attempt to put the player off could stop him.
His penalty was as cool a kick as you will see in any such pressure situation (eclipsed only by the majestic chip executed by Pirlo) and he will be remembered fondly by followers of the Italian side should he not kick a ball for the remainder of this tournament.
Hopefully though, for the sake of the side and for himself, he is not done yet.
