Are defenders like him a dying breed? By that I mean old fashioned centre backs who’ll do the defensive bit first and clear their lines when needed, as opposed to the modern approach where coaches want their centre backs to be able to move the ball around and play out from the back.
Some of his last ditch defending is phenomenal and reminds me of some of great centre halves Italy have been blessed with through the years. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he had gotten in Spain’s heads with his carry on before the semi final shootout when he was joking away and playfully punching Alba’s arm while the Spaniard was stood looking like a bag of nerves.
Although it was born of his own initial gaff this made me laugh. Smart foul in the end given the distance from the goal meaning it could only be a yellow.