Daniele De Rossi cut a frustrated figure on the bench during Italy's playoff defeat to Sweden on Monday night. The 34-year-old could not understand why he was being asked to warm-up when Italy needed a goal, something Napoli Lorenzo Insigne was more likely to provide.
De Rossi did not allow his annoyance with defeat and Giampiero Ventura's questionable tactical nous to prevent him from both apologising to and congratulating the Swedes after the game.
The Swedish national anthem was booed prior to the kick-off of Monday's game. Quoted by Expressen.se, Pontus Jansson revealed that De Rossi had boarded the Sweden team bus to apologise.
He said well done and apologised for how some of the players behaved in Stockholm, and for how some of the fans booed our national anthem in the return leg.
The whole atmosphere on the bus was like: 'Wow, did that really happen?' It was one of the nicest moments for a long time actually, what a damn gentleman. A really nice person and a true team captain.
Sweden manager Janne Andersson was not aboard the bus at the time but still recognised De Rossi's gesture.
That's sport at its best. You can brawl with each other out on the pitch, it can be a 'small war' but afterwards you shake each others' hands. I have the greatest respect for what De Rossi did.
