The roar from Italy fans in Rome during the match was so loud that it was recorded by equipment used to monitor earthquakes, while tens of thousands of Italians and Italo-Australians in Melbourne awoke in the middle of the night and packed into venues across the city – particularly along Lygon Street – to watch the momentous win.
The celebrations in Melbourne were unlike anything else, with fans chanting, dancing, lighting flares and waving tricolour flags outside car windows while parading through the streets.
The compelling final saw record-breaking numbers tune in to watch from around the world, with a peak audience of 31 million viewers being recorded in England alone.
But nothing can beat the real thing.
Amid the crowd of 60,000 spectators who were fortunate enough to attend the final at Wembley Stadium, in London, was Italo-Australian fan Daniel Pagnoccolo.
Pagnoccolo, 30, was born and raised in Melbourne with strong Italian roots: his mother hails from the Sicilian city of Messina and migrated to Australia as a young child and his paternal grandparents came over from Catania, in Sicily, and the Ligurian city of Genoa.
For the past three years, Pagnoccolo has lived in the Russian capital of Moscow, where he teaches English, geography and literature.
“I’ve always been passionate about calcio [soccer] since I was a child,” he said.
“The first World Cup I remember was in 1998, when I was seven years old; I still remember the heartache of the penalty shootout against France.”
Pagnoccolo was well and truly behind the Azzurri from the very start of this year’s Euro 2020, attending the opening match between Italy and Turkey at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
“It was the first time Italy had hosted a match in a major tournament since the 1990 World Cup, in the year I was born,” he said.
“It felt special knowing this and it was a special night for the Italian people, as fans were allowed back into the stadium properly for the first time since February 2020 [due to the COVID-19 pandemic].”
When Italy beat Belgium to make it to the final, an ecstatic Pagnoccolo headed to London, where he had to quarantine for five days before attending the match.
“The atmosphere was amazing but daunting for an Italian,” he said of the day.
“The streets of London were full all afternoon and Wembley Way was just a sea of white.
“The atmosphere inside the stadium was electric and despite being outnumbered, we sang and made our presence felt.”
Pagnoccolo said there were three moments of the match that he will never forget, the most memorable being in the 67th minute, when Leonardo Bonucci scored the equaliser for Italy, taking the score to 1-1.
Interestingly, the moment also made history, with Bonucci becoming the oldest player ever to score a goal in a Euro 2020 final.
“He scored it right in front of us, then ran over to us and just stood there with his arms open,” Pagnoccolo said.
“The English fans went silent and we went wild; from that moment, we knew we could win it.”
Other unforgettable points of the match included Gianluigi Donnarumma’s two saves in the penalty shootout, which Pagnoccolo described as a “rollercoaster”, and England fans’ celebrations following the first goal of the game.
“I’ve been to many big football games all over Europe and the roar from the home fans is nothing like I’ve ever heard before,” he said.
When Italy won, Pagnoccolo and his fellow Azzurri supporters also made themselves heard, singing the national anthem, Un’estate italiana and the chant I campioni dell’Europa siamo noi.
However, the celebrations ended for many Italian fans once they left the safety of the stadium, surrounded by thousands of England supporters in a tense atmosphere.
“It wasn’t safe at all to celebrate outside the stadium after the game, or even wear blue on the streets that night,” Pagnoccolo said.
“I spoke to a few Italians on my travels back in to London from Wembley and they chose not to attend the match for that reason.
“I took a white top with me and changed into it after the game for my own safety.”
But ultimately, nothing could dampen Pagnoccolo’s spirits, and witnessing the win was like a dream come true.
“This was a celebration for the Italian people; not only for those living in Italy, but also for those all over Europe, Australia, Canada, the USA and around the world,” he concluded.
“After everything that has been happening in the world, after Italy not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, and after the media outside of Italy saying that we wouldn’t have gone deep into the tournament, we proved to everyone who didn’t believe in our national team that we are champions.”
