The Italy national team’s European adventure has come to an end after Saturday’s penalty shootout defeat against Germany in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016. The Azzurri arrived in Montpellier during the night and were greeted by around one hundred supporters who had waited for the team at their hotel. The Italy party then left on a specially chartered flight at 16:00 which stopped in Milan before going on to Rome.

In the morning, the players and staff said goodbye to the workforce at their hotel and to the staff at the Bernard Gasset sports centre which had hosted the team during their stay in France. FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio and Italy head coach Antonio Conte then briefly met the press at the Casa Azzurri Media Centre to say a final goodbye and to evaluate the tournament.

The viewing figures for the match on Saturday serve as proof of the enormous enthusiasm with which Italians have followed Conte’s team during Euro 2016. Nearly 20 million (19,662,000) people tuned in for the quarter-final match against Germany: an audience share of 78.79%. 16,562,000 (66,34% audience share) watched the match on Rai 1 which jumped to 17,553,000 (72.94% audience share) during the penalty shootout. The match was the most watched event ever on Sky Italia with 3.1 million people following the game on Sky Sport 1 (12.45% audience share).

Photo:  figc.it