Simone Zaza conceded to feeling a little emotional after scoring in Italy s 1-1 draw with Netherlands, two years on from his embarrassing penalty miss against Germany.
The striker broke the deadlock in Turin, albeit with the aid of Virgil van Dijk s unfortunate attempt at a clearance from Federico Chiesa s low cross.
Zaza s goal, which came shortly after his introduction from the bench, helped to ease some of the pain of his spot-kick howler at Euro 2016, when his bizarre run-up preceded a wild effort which he blazed over the crossbar in a quarter-final shoot-out loss.
Nathan Ake levelled the scores in Monday s match after Domenico Criscito had seen red for the hosts in a clash of two sides who failed to qualify for the World Cup, but Zaza was able to focus on the positives.
I am happy for the goal as I had some rather sad memories of the national team, the Valencia forward told Rai Sport.
I was a little lucky, but I had a really rough time and all those negative memories, so I felt a little emotional.
GOAAAAALLLL!!!!!
66’ throws himself at a cross to open the scoring! 1-0
— Italy (@azzurri)
I am happy with the performance, as we are a young squad and – unfortunately to a degree – we have a lot of time to prepare for the next tournament.
Negative moments, not just that penalty, but also my experience in England [with West Ham], helped me to grow. I thank the people who were always close to me and I march on.
I might be biased, but I think Italy have a young, enthusiastic side with a lot of quality and even more potential that over time will become competitive.
