In 120 goalless minutes against a poor English side Italy wasted chance after chance on Sunday but the fact they were creative and always tried to win the game bodes well for a nation with a sometimes unjustified reputation for dull play.
Pirlo is 33 but is in the running to be player of the tournament after scoring or setting up all of Italy's goals in Ukraine and Poland while his spot kick in the 4-2 shooutout win had Tweeters and fans raving about his outrageous ability.
"I saw that the goalkeeper was really hyped and I thought I'd do it like that, it was easier to take it like that," Pirlo told reporters after England's Joe Hart had bounced up and down on the line and made funny faces.
"It created a bit of pressure on the keeper."
The difference in class between his spot-kick - reminiscient of Antonin Panenka for Czechoslovakia against West Germany in the 1976 final - and Hart's antics was mirrored throughout a game which Italy dominated in terms of possession and chances.
"I would not have expected it, but I always believed," said Diamanti, once an also-ran with West Ham United in the English Premier League and now with Bologna. "Italy played a great game from the first minute to the last."
Cesare Prandelli's side came into the tournament with low expectations after a string of friendly defeats and another domestic match-fixing scandal which deprived the squad of left-back Domenico Criscito, who denies wrongdoing.
Popular daily Gazzetta dello Sport was wildly enthusiastic on Monday with a front page headline of "A winning Italy, come on!" in the wake of the national team's win and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso triumphing in the European Formula One Grand Prix.
