Leonardo Bonucci has quipped that the joy of Italy's opener against Belgium in their Euro 2020 quarter-final victory was enough to cure Ciro Immobile of his "injury" after the striker simulated a knock in the first half in Munich on Friday.
The Lazio forward was the subject of widespread criticism for the incident in which he apparently dived in an attempt to win a penalty, feigning injury, before springing immediately back to his feet to celebrate Nicolo Barella's goal moments later.
Immobile's actions, alongside further accusations of poor gamesmanship from Roberto Mancini's side during the final half-hour at Allianz Arena, marred an otherwise shrewdly attractive performance from the Azzurri, but now vice-captain Bonucci has made light of the matter ahead of Tuesday's semi-final with Spain at Wembley.
What has been said?
"These are things that happen on the pitch," the Juventus centre-back told a pre-match press conference. "Ciro felt touched and went down.
"Then, the joy of a goal in matches like this, it is so great that it makes you forget any pain! We laughed on the pitch and we made fun of him [for it] but it ended there [for us]."
Bonucci pledges "faithful" game for fallen Spinazzola
Immobile's antics were overshadowed not only by the eventual result to an extent, but also the horrific injury suffered by defender Leonardo Spinazzola, who ruptured his Achilles tendon late in the second half to end his tournament prematurely.
It made for a strikingly cruel blow for the Roma man, one of Mancini's form players in their march to the semi-finals, and now Bonucci has vowed that Italy will stick to their core beliefs in order to reach a final for their team-mate.
"We have a very clear idea of our game and we will try to be faithful to ourselves throughout the match," he added.
"Our tradition and culture is to try and control the game. It will be difficult, but we have a strong defensive unit that can put Spain in trouble.
"We're proud of our national team. We want to reach the final for Leonardo Spinazzola, because of the cruel blow he suffered with his injury."
The bigger picture
Alongside captain Giorgio Chiellini, Bonucci remains one of the last holdouts of the Italy side that were thrashed 4-0 by La Roja in the European Championship final in 2012.
Tuesday's game presents a chance to not only reach a first major final since that night in Kyiv but to also gain a modicum of payback for the heartbreak of their rout.
If they succeed, they will return to Wembley five days later to face either England or Denmark, who meet on Wednesday in the other semi-final.