Federico Dimarco: "I always respectful" but on social is controversy

At the end of the match between Italy and Northern Ireland, won by the Azzurri 2-0 thanks to goals by Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean, the cameras caught some Italian players cheering as Bosnia and Herzegovina passed the round against Wales. These players include Pio Esposito and Federico Dimarco.

The video went viral on social media, infuriating many Bosnian fans, who are ready for revenge next Tuesday. “Look at the disrespect and arrogance from Italy. They were celebrating after we won on penalties. We will take this into account in Zenica!” tweeted one of the most popular accounts in Bosnian soccer.

On Saturday Federico Dimarco appeared at a press conference to try to explain the gesture: “I decided to come and speak because I wanted to say something very important: I have always had a deep respect for any club and any national team. Ours was a simple gesture of instinct, in front of penalty kicks as between friends: mine is that of my other teammates. Immediately afterwards, I messaged Edin (Dzeko, ed.), we are on very good terms, we played together and we also saw each other on vacation: I congratulated him, he congratulated me and said may the best man win.”

The Azzurro defender’s words, however, have fueled the controversy and on social media many Hellas Verona fans have dusted off Dimarco’s bad gesture towards Henry in January 2024. The French center forward had missed a penalty kick in the last seconds of the match and the Nerazzurri defender had cheered in his face. “Can you confirm that this is the same guy who said he respects any club?” wrote one fan of the Verona club on X, echoed by another: “But what respect! Has he already forgotten that he cheered in front of a player who had just missed a penalty?”