Gianluigi Buffon praised the character shown by Italy, as they secured third place in the Confederations Cup.
The Azzurri defeated Uruguay 3-2 on penalties after their match ended in a 2-2 draw.
“Great pride from everyone, because today it was truly tough. It would’ve been even tougher if we didn’t have this character,” the goalkeeper told Rai Sport.
“Today was difficult to judge, as the fact we walked on to the pitch rather than crawled was a miracle in itself. Managing to win shows just what our potential really is.”
The veteran goalkeeper, who was unable to stop a single spot-kick in semi final loss to Spain, saved couple of crucial penalty kicks to guide his team to victory.
“We struggled during the game, but fought to the end and seeing as against Spain I couldn’t give my teammates joy, I did it today – albeit a bit late,” he continued.
“It would’ve been disappointing not to win, as playing after two days in this heat it was so hard, but we had the right spirit and once again honoured the jersey in the best possible way.”
