Euro 2016 - Conte cunning couldn’t help with penalties, and now Italy will lack more direction

Simone Zaza, it’s far to say, has had better nights. He came off the bench with five seconds of the 120 minutes remaining, specifically to take a penalty. His run-up was complex, weirdly so, an arcing, high-stepping run that might have become fashionable had he scored. As it was, he scooped his shot high and wide and the tone was set for a shambolic penalty shoot-out.

Germany missed more kicks here than they have in the whole of their previous history. They hadn’t missed any of their last 21, a run going back to 1982. Italy can’t have expected to have been given such a chance. No other side has been. As far as penalty shoot-outs go, this is as easy as Germany have ever made it. But Italy still failed.

It wasn’t just Zaza to blame, even if his kick will become iconic (should he have been brought on in such circumstances? It’s not as though he’s a specialist: in the last three seasons, he’d only scored two penalties. Then again, Leonardo Bonucci had never taken one in his entire career outside of penalty shoot-outs and still converted to level with 13 minutes of normal time remaining). Graziano Pelle’s penalty, dragged to the left of the post after he’d gestured he was going to dink it, was almost as bad. Bonucci, having scored in normal time, was thwarted by Manuel Neuer’s diving save to his right. And then Matteo Darmian, the ninth taker, saw his slightly scuffed kick saved.

As Neuer pointed out, the only penalties Italy scored went into the centre of the goal. This was, ultimately a failure of nerve. They were reduced to blasting the ball straight down the middle; anything more complex or subtle failed. Yet for most of this tournament, Italy had been nerveless, better organised, more ruthless than anyone else. It was as though they could not live without the tactical structures Antonio Conte put in place for them. That, perhaps, is the flaw of a manager so demanding, so controlling; that when it comes to a part of the game when he cannot help, when the scaffolding falls away and they have to make their own decisions, they find that capability has withered.

Gianluigi Buffon, who may himself feel he might have done better with the Jonas Hector penalty that squeezed under his body to win the game, admitted Italy’s nerve had gone. “There is a regret with regard to the shoot-out,” he said. “We didn't have clear enough heads. It cost us."

Buffon, who was in tears at the defeat but still made a point of congratulating every German player, vowed he would not retire but would play on until the 2018 World Cup when he will be 40. His presence will be a major plus, for he remains one of the finest goalkeepers in the world – his save from Mario Gomez shortly after Germany had taken the lead was extraordinary. But the bigger question is what happens after Conte has gone.

As Conte and several players pointed out, this is not a strong Italy squad. What made it dangerous was Conte, his rigour, his energy, his tactical plans. Because of Conte, Buffon said, “nothing was impossible”, which is why the defeat hit them so hard. They had come to believe that they could win the Euros. Arrigo Sacchi, the former Italy and AC Milan manager, spoke on Italian TV of the “virtuous circle” of “team-first” football, saying the spirit in the squad had reminded him of that he experienced when Italy got to the World Cup final in 1994. “It's a difficult time for all of us,” Buffon went on.

“We thought that we had done something exceptional but we couldn't quite see it off."

Even Conte in the immediate aftermath of defeat seemed to regret that he was leaving – while checking himself to speak of the “great opportunity” at Chelsea. He will take seven days off before beginning work at Stamford Bridge. There was certainly a clear implication that if he’d felt more support he’d have been less inclined to leave. “I didn't see anyone alongside me, the press, the media, I had to go into battle, Conte against everyone,” he said.

“I have always worked for best of national side, fought for their interests, not for my own, perhaps that message has not been conveyed, someone has gone against that, and tried to take the opportunity to create TV programmes. I never felt supported by anyone, the president of Italian federation has always been alongside me, but the president can only go so far.”

There is, though, a clear pride at what he has achieved with the limited resources available. “My decision has been taken,” Conte said.

“It's a shame as this process is something we've done together, we've created a family, leave a lasting mark, and I hope that can bear fruit. For a number of these players it’s their first ever tournament.

"This is a generation that can progress. A number of this squad were in their first tournament, and you have to play in this sort of tournament to progress. I’m very confident from that point of view. We have left a route forward there, and we need to follow this track.

Whether that is possible under Giampiero Ventura is another matter. So much of this success was down to Conte and his personality, to his capacity to inspire and to devise plans. Even Germany’s switch to a back three for the quarter-final could be seen as a mark of respect for Conte and his tactical acumen, changing approach so the strategies he had laid down couldn’t take full effect.

Italy feels at the moment like an off-shoot of Conte’s personality.

When he has gone, so too will that clear sense of direction be gone.

And that, perhaps explains the tears, the hugely emotional reaction to the defeat. There was a recognition that this was it, this was their chance. But in the penalties, none of Conte’s scheming could help.