Simone Zaza says it took him several months to put his penalty miss against Germany in the Euro 2016 quarterfinal behind him and believes leaving West Ham United without rediscovering his scoring form would be a personal "failure."
The Italy striker gets the opportunity for revenge against Germany on Tuesday night when Italy host the world champions at the San Siro, but he says memories of that July night in Bordeaux are still vivid.
His miss in the penalty shootout earned him ridicule on social media, but he says it was something else which hurt him.
"I was unhappy for the whole summer," he told RAI television. "It made me suffer a lot. Apart from the ridicule and criticism, what saddened me was having destroyed something special which had been created.
"I will never forget everything that happened. Everybody had written us off and yet we were showing Europe that we were really good.
"Nobody wanted to face us and to get knocked out in such a way, on penalties, was truly horrible.
"I was unable to get the thought out of my mind for several months. I felt really bad."
Zaza has carried that bad feeling with him into the new season, with his form in the Premier League not yet living up to the standards he had set at Sassuolo and Juventus in the past, and in France last summer.
Nevertheless, he is convinced things will take a turn for the better, just like they have done for Ciro Immobile, who has put behind him disappointing experiences at Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla and is now one of Serie A's leading goal scorers.
"I'm really pleased for him because he's bounced back in Serie A and in the national team after some difficult times," Zaza said.
"Immobile has proven that things can change from one moment to the next.
"If things aren't going well for a player for a period of time, it doesn't mean they are no longer any good, but it's more a psychological thing. I want to be like Immobile and bounce back.
"To be honest, I have not heard about any other club being interested in me, all I'm thinking of now is hitting form again and playing well. If I were to leave West Ham, then it would be a failure.
"It's not been going well lately, but it happens to all forwards. I'm not beating myself up about it."