Downplaying his side's defeat at the hands of Germany in the European Championship, Italy coach Antonio Conte has said there is 'no shame' in losing the match on penalties.
"Being beaten by Germany on penalties is no shame, as we could've gone forward too. I am proud of what these players did," the 46-year-old was quoted as saying by goal.com.
After both sides settled with a 1-1 draw at the end of the regulation time and extra time, Germany defeated Italy 6-5 in the bizarre penalty shootout to reach the semifinals of the Euro 2016.
Lorenzo Insigne of Italy netted the opening penalty to put them in lead before Toni Kroos levelled the score for Germany.
It was Andrea Barzagli, who put Italy ahead again after his team-mate Simone Zaza and German's Thomas Muller missed their respective penalties.
Thereafter, Mesut Ozil and Graziano Pelle also missed their respective spot-kicks before Julian Draxler again equalized the score for Germany.
Emanuele Giaccherini, Marco Parolo and Mattia De Sciglio were the other goal scorers for Italy while Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich and Jerome Boateng scored for Germany to level at 5-5.
Germany's Jonas Hector then smashed a match-winning penalty after Italy's Matteo Darmian missed a decisive chance to hand his side with a win.
Despite the defeat, Conte said he is delighted with the efforts of his players, who did everything possible to compete against a 'very strong' Germany.
Conte, who is leaving his post to join Chelsea in the Premier League, said that he regrets only the penalties his side had missed and not the effort which they made.
"Regrets? Only for the penalties, not for the effort and love they showed for the jersey. These players really proved everything and gave all they had," he added.
Conte believes his players were able to make their fans proud and had truly respected their jersey.
Besides this match, Italy and Germany had never met in a shootout at a major tournament before. The world champions had also remained unbeaten in spot-kicks since 1976.
