Fans loved Liverpool star Thiago Alcantara’s actions after Spain suffered penalty heartbreak in their European Championship semi-final against Italy at Wembley.
Despite Thiago – who had come on as a late substitute for the second half of extra time – coolly converting his own spot-kick, Spain were beaten 4-2 in the shoot-out after the game had finished in a 1-1 draw.
The emotion of the occasion and pain of defeat seemed to prove somewhat overawing for Spain’s teenage sensation Pedri but as the Italians celebrated wildly, a compassionate Thiago was shown consoling the Barcelona wonderkid.
Despite being just 18 years of age, Pedri started all five of Luis Enrique’s side’s games throughout the tournament – taking Thiago’s place in the side – but as one of the senior players in the squad, the Reds man had nothing but support for his younger team-mate.
At 30, Thiago, who has won the Champions League with both Barcelona and Bayern Munich plus four La Liga and seven Bundesliga titles, has seen it all in football and seemed to be offering words of comfort to his crestfallen colleague – an act that did not go unseen by supporters, even though some with a more cynical nature suggested a potentially ulterior motive with the Liverpool-linked Camp Nou star.
