Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella was the subject of many memes for his iconic post-Euros photos where he is wearing sunglasses and sporting a very nonchalant look during the celebrations of Italy’s win.
However, as the 24-year-old explained to InterTV, the moment was not as comical as has been interpreted by many, and he was only wearing the sunglasses because he anticipated that he’d be in bright lights given the time of day.
Barella was a key part of the Italian national team that won the Euros last summer, including playing in the final where the Azzurri overcame an early goal to win on penalties against England.
The 24-year-old and his teammates were understandably ecstatic after the match, but then they had commitments afterwards, including meeting the Italian prime minister.
As the midfielder explained, the moment that was captured in the photo was simply a spontaneous moment in the post-celebration morning.
“A lot of imagined scenarios have come up around that photo, some of them just not true at all,” he explained.
“The only thing reason I had sunglasses was that we had arrived in Italy at eight and had a meeting with Mattarella at noon, we had slept twelve hours!” he elaborated
“We arrived, there were croissants and it was a party,” he went on. “It almost looks like I came back from an after-party, but that wasn’t the case.”
“And what you see in my hands is water, some might think it looks like beer but it was water,” he continued.
Barella explained that “I was happy about it, it’s a picture that makes people laugh, But I was also sorry that some people thought that I was drunk. We didn’t drink that night.”