Euro 2024: Italy's Gianluigi Donnarumma apologises after exit to Switzerland as Alan Shearer SLAMS abject Azzurri

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has apologised after the Azzurri were dumped out of Euro 2024 following a 2-0 defeat against Switzerland.

Goals from Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas were enough to secure Switzerland's passage to the last eight of the competition after Murat Yakin's men controlled most of the encounter in Berlin .

Admitting that the holders were more than below par, Donnarumma offered up a brave face following his nation's defeat and admitted Italy were not up to scratch throughout the tie.

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"We can just say sorry to our fans. It’s unacceptable, we have been poor for the entire game. That’s the reality," Donnarumma said, according to Fabrizio Romano on X (formerly Twitter). "We have been terrible in the first half. It’s the reality, we have to accept that."

Italy coach Luciano Spalletti echoed the same sentiment in his post-match press conference, insisting his side did not match the intensity shown by Switzerland across the 90 minutes.

"The lack of tempo is one of [the] characteristics," began the former Napoli manager. "We don’t have many players who have that quality of being able to run hard. Now everyone does that high press and aggressive moves to win the ball back immediately. If you don’t ‘clean’ the ball within two or three passes, you will struggle, as they all crowd around you."

BBC regular Alan Shearer also felt the Italians were light in attack across the tournament and believes that kind of performance was indicative of a team with little fight.

"I was really shocked at how bad Italy were, they offered nothing in any position and got ran ragged the whole game. I mean, Switzerland toyed with them," Shearer said to BBC in his post-match debrief.

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