Italy coach Roberto Mancini was pleased with his side s display against Spain on Wednesday despite a 2-1 defeat ending their world-record 37-game unbeaten run.
La Roja booked their place in Sunday s Nations League final thanks to two Ferran Torres strikes before half-time.
The Azzurri s cause was not helped by Leonardo Bonucci receiving a second yellow card in between the Manchester City forward s double.
Lorenzo Pellegrini halved the deficit seven minutes from full-time, but Luis Enrique s men held firm to set up a clash with either France or Belgium in Sunday s decider.
While disappointed that his side s superb unbeaten run was over, Mancini was not too hard on his players.
Games are like this, sometimes incidents change them. The first half could easily have ended 1-1, Mancini told RAI Sport.
Clearly, Spain keep the ball well, but it s disappointing to lose like this, down to 10. We made a mistake that we should not be making at this level.
To be honest, I didn t see the second card, but that s not the point. Leo should not have got himself booked in either situation.
Playing like this, scoring a goal and not conceding more when down to 10 men was a good performance.
We needed some fresh legs and that helped when down to 10 men. We could ve used some younger players, but I think that despite the defeat, this performance gave us strength.
The result was only the second time Italy have conceded more than one goal in a single match under Mancini s guidance, the previous such occasion a 3-1 defeat to France in June 2018.
Veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini echoed Mancini s sentiments and believes the defeat will make them stronger.
It s a pity the defeat came in Milan, but there is pride for this extraordinary run of results, the Juventus defender said.
It s a necessary stage in the growth process for a team that can still do far better. We knew it was a difficult match, we called for patience and clear minds, and sometimes you have to accept the opposition is a very strong team that causes you problems.
It s a pity, we wanted to continue this unbeaten run, but the fact is this will help our growth process. We almost got it back on level terms when down to 10 men and 2-0 down, so that shows what we’re capable of.
