Pio Esposito: ‘I had extra responsibility on penalty for my brother’

MILAN - NOVEMBER 12: Pio Esposito of Italy celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with Nicolo Cambiaghi and Sandro Tonali during the UEFA Nations League 2026/27 group phase match between Italy and France at San Siro Stadium on November 12, 2026 in Milan. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)

Francesco Pio Esposito admits he felt ‘extra responsibility’ for brother Sebastiano and his own Italy past when stepping up for a penalty in the 3-1 win over France. ‘I couldn’t hide forever.’

It was a nightmare start for the Nazionale at San Siro, as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s howler playing out from the back gifted Michael Olise the opener within 10 minutes.

However, Pio Esposito flicked in the Nicolò Cambiaghi pull-back at the near post, then Sebastiano Esposito fired a penalty wide of the target.

Davide Frattesi turned the game around anyway on the Federico Dimarco assist and when the referee pointed to the spot again, this time Pio Esposito converted.

Pio Esposito crucial for Italy

The striker now has nine goals in 14 senior Italy caps, an astonishing result for someone who is only 21 years old.

“It makes me very happy, because this is a truly special jersey, the one that we all wear the moment we start kicking the ball, and is the dream of everyone. It is always an honour to wear it and we must prove we deserve to wear it every single time,” Pio Esposito told RAI Sport.

“On the penalty, there was an extra responsibility, which was to wipe out the error made by my brother. When I saw it go wide, that was tough for me as well as for him. I had to score and finish the game for him.”

There seemed to be some confusion on the touchline when Sebastiano Esposito stepped up for that first penalty, was he meant to be taking it?

“On the sheet, both our names were there. Seba has more penalties converted in his career than anyone else in the squad, it can happen to anyone, then I scored the second,” added Pio.

There was another reason why the pressure was on and perhaps the big brother took the responsibility, which is that the last penalty taken by Pio for Italy was missed in the World Cup play-off defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“When I stepped up, my first thought inevitably was Bosnia, but I couldn’t hide forever. You take penalties, you miss them, it happens, you’ve just got to keep going forward,” confirmed the hitman.

Italy are now top of the Nations League group, an incredible result considering they lost the opener 2-0 at home to Belgium only two months ago.

“Since the coach arrived, we were still a work in progress against Belgium, but after that we started to really find our feet. We have a mix of youth and experience, we need to keep this enthusiasm going.”