AS the Italian national team were confirmed as champions of Europe following a tense penalty shoot-out with England, Europeans congratulated the side.

Many had a dig at Brexit some with veiled references to the UK leaving the European Union – others were not so subtle.

As the penalty shoot-out ended, prominent Italian economist Carlo Cottarelli tweeted: "BREXIT !!!!!!!!"

Yesterday, as Italian fans continued to celebrate the success of their team, "Brexit Completed" memes filled social media.

Later in the day, the Italian squad, along with National reader and team manager Roberto Mancini, made their way to the Chigi Palace in Rome, where they met Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi.

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Draghi was formerly head of the European Central Bank and earned the nickname "Super Mario" in his homeland for his role in responding to the Eurozone crisis of 2012.

Draghi thanked Mancini, the team's captain Giorgio Chiellini and praised the work of Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

He added: “You put us at the centre of Europe, and the many messages of congratulations we received in these hours — even me, personally — prove it."

He added that sports were “an instrument of union especially in difficult moments such as the one we went through”.

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EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen shared a picture of herself with an Italian jersey bearing her name and 27 for the number of countries in the bloc ahead of the match. The German national wished the Azzurri good luck and saying; "Fingers crossed for tonight’s Euro 2020 final.”

Sharing a picture of the celebrating team, Italian MEP Alessandra Moretti wrote on Twitter: "Long live Italy, long live the blue champions of Europe! United Europe beats Brexit England!"

Also after the game, Spanish MEP Luis Garciano posted a video of people celebrating at a viewing party for his Mediterranean neighbours saying Brexit was "on the side of European Parliament".