The standard of penalties was below what we’d expect of these teams.
Germany defeated Italy on penalties last night after drawing 1-1 in normal and extra time.
Every time you hear a whisper of Germany, the cliched response is “efficient”, but themselves and Italy were anything but that in the penalty shootout.
Germany won 6-5 on in the shootout but they took some awful penalties in the process, luckily for them, so did Italy.
Seven missed penalties and a lot of head in hands moments ensued before Jonas Hector slipped the ball under Buffon to send Germany through to the semi-final.
While the standard of penalties was quite low, the fact that players were attempting to score on two fantastic goalies, Neuer and Buffon, surely played a factor in their minds.
Players knew their penalty had to be inch perfect to beat the pair and this probably played a role in some of them pushing their balls past the post.
Here’s how people reacted:
Zaza’s shocker and run up were the main topic early on..
#Zaza misses to the tune of Benny Hill. What was he thinking lol #EURO2016 #ITA #GERITA #Germany #ZazaDance pic.twitter.com/Mir4MCnLxd
— Alan Ward (@head_melted) July 3, 2016
#ZAZA's penalty just landed #GERITA #EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/1xP0whPwrE
— Moran𓅓 (@ItsMoran_) July 3, 2016
Zaza run up #GERITA https://t.co/ZP6pi03SYQ
— Stu (@minute5072) July 2, 2016
Germany don’t lose on pens…
https://twitter.com/FootballFunnys/status/749359863017472000
https://twitter.com/marcisthecruise/status/749362941284143105
https://twitter.com/CatholicYMGuy/status/749360591333056512
Some people just couldn’t’ deal with it at all…
https://twitter.com/rannfabi/status/749518213940072448
Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian saw his shot saved by Neuer…
Doesn't even matter if Darmian is bad at penalties. He won't get a chance at United anyway coz our first 5 blokes will bottle it.
— Red (@ThatBoyGiggsy) July 2, 2016
England weren't even involved in that shoot out and still came out of it badly 😃
Schweinsteiger MISS
Pelle MISS
Özil MISS
Darmian MISS— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) July 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/CmonHarris/status/749359886945968128
Darmian missing to comfort Basti, what a team mate.
— Jurassic Mark 🦕🦖 (@ItsJurassicMark) July 2, 2016
Italy deserved to lose, purely for Darmian's sideburns and Zaza's run up.
— Guy (@Guyzano) July 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/MassMarioni/status/749363412501688320
But there was some sympathy for Gianluigi Buffon…
Have to feel for Gianluigi Buffon. Went the right way on almost every one of those penalties, yet bad Italian misses let him down. #GERITA
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) July 2, 2016
Gianluigi Buffon in tears at the end of the game.
Right in the feels. ☹️☹️☹️ pic.twitter.com/yQWu0nS9Iq
— Squawka (@Squawka) July 2, 2016
A picture that hurts every fan, regardless of who you support. #Buffon #Legend pic.twitter.com/gSY3nY7UDI
— Mighty Reds LFC (@lfc_mighty) July 3, 2016
https://twitter.com/lucagiordano95/status/749393760174440448
A typically dignified comment…
Gianluigi Buffon: "After an evening like that there's nothing to blame yourself for. Just sorry to be going home." pic.twitter.com/ootpcnZdfZ
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) July 2, 2016
