Federico Chiesa came on to the Wembley pitch with six minutes of normal time left and this tight, fretful last-16 tie still goalless. The story of the game to that point had been a stirring, finely wrought defensive performance from Austria, who showed great resolve against a team most expected to simply blow them away.
The final whistle came as a relief to Italy’s players, who fell into an angsty-looking huddle around their manager. Roberto Mancini’s message was to take a breath, to reset the throttle. And Italy did find another gear at last.
