Euro 2020: buildup to Italy v England final – live!

Fact: 22 players have competed in two European Champions finals. None have ever lost two. Today, then, is a chance for Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini to create history …

“On the subject of long queues, I once stood in line for eight hours for a Prince gig at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London,” coos Ryan Hooper. “It was a chilly Sunday in February, and the gig had been announced on the radio about 45 mins before I got there. Pretty sure the lad who played the young hotel worker in Partridge was stood in front of me. One of the best gigs of my life, and Prince only charged a tenner for entry. Trying to think of a Prince song to define tonight’s match – maybe Let’s Go Crazy, as opposed to Controversy!” Have you – given that some folks are planning on an eight-hour drinking spree before kickoff – considered The Slaughterhouse?

“Interesting point about the penalty,” writes Greg Conboy. “I’m a Spurs fan and huge fan of Kane but I think he has struggled on big occasions and that might be the pressure. Champions League final he was admittedly coming back from injury but was poor. And I think he was actually poor in the Denmark game. A great pass for Saka and the penalty maybe covers up for a leggy flat performance. And leading the team out he looked stressed, not relaxed at all. Anyway I love him and hope he can relax and show us what we know he is capable of tonight.”

Here’s a thing: if England get a penalty today, what will Harry Kane do (assuming he is not too injured by his fall to take it…)? His spotkick against Denmark was awful, though the rebound favoured him. He explained afterwards that he intended to send it high but, for some reason, didn’t connect properly and his shot travelled low. The obvious explanation for that uncharacteristic miss is that he was under more pressure than ever before. As one of the figureheads of his country, the pressure is more intense on him than almost anyone else. L’Equipe today carried an interview with Geir Jordet, a Norwegian researcher who has studied the history of penalty-taking at tournament (club and international) as far back as 1976 and he has found that as a player’s status rises, his efficiency of penalties falls: “When a player has become an international superstar, he only scores from 65% of his attempts, compared to 90% before he reaches that status (especially by winning an individual award [ such as the Golden Boot]),” says Jordet. Golly. Maybe if today’s game goes to a shootout, England should bring on Aaron Ramsdale, if only to take one.

The pubs are open in England …. pace yourselves, drinkers! Brace yourselves, everyone else.

You know you want to read Barney Ronay’s thoughts on today’s showdown.

England have kept clean sheets in 11 of their last 12 matches. Italy have conceded a grand total of 10 goals in their last 33 matches. Neither team is likely to give up many chances today. So the difference could come down to who has the better finisher. But how close will Giorgio Chiellini & Co let Harry Kane get to goal?

Twenty minutes to pubs opening time …. any news from people in the queues? What are your chances of being awake/lucid by kickoff time?

“When I was five and my elder brother was seven, our family was on holiday visiting relatives in the East Riding,” recalls Matthew Bell. “One day, there was going to be football on the telly, and our Dad gave us a choice: watch football or go to the beach? We chose the beach. And that’s why Dad didn’t see the 1966 World Cup final. He was, in fact, much more a rugby man. But that didn’t stop him from finding this a useful anecdote to pull out strategically in later years. Today, in New York City, it doesn’t look like beach weather. Think I’ll watch the football.” Fair enough, but you and your dad had the right idea back then. Kids and dads: remember, it’s always better to run around outside than sit indoors watching other people do stuff.

“How do you think winning the European Championships compares with winning the World Cup?” asks David Wall. “Obviously there has been a lot made of it being the first major final since England won the World Cup and some have used that negatively to try to down-play what might be achieved (i.e. ‘it’s only the Euros’, etc). But given that the last four World Cup winners have been European countries, can the Euros be considered pretty much on a par with the World Cup now (in a similar way that winning the Champions’ League is as big a deal as winning the World Club Championships (or perhaps bigger))?” That comparison is flawed because in club football Europeans can buy a lot of the best players in the world and thus weaken clubs elsewhere. They can’t do that, at least not in the same way and to the same extent, in international football. So no competition that doesn’t include Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Japan and on and on can ever be equal to the World Cup.

Today some of you may find out for the first time what it’s like to see England win a trophy. Our man Jeremy Alexander has witnessed such a freak occurrence before. Here he recalls that day back in … when was it again?

“Re Battle Hardenedness (it’s a real word honest) – I’d agree if we hadn’t had the Danish game, something where we had to come from behind and go to extra time,” reasons AndyinBrum. “And when does battle hardenedness change to tiredness?” For England’s last opponents, it was around the 65th minute, but thenDenmark’s battles had included a long trek to Azerbaijan, where they fought in extreme heat. Neither Italy nor England have had to contend with that, but Italy did have to cope with chasing nimble Spaniards around for over an hour: one would expect that if England don’t get ragged when Italy pop the ball around, then as the match wears on, England’s greater speed and energy and deeper bench could be decisive.

“Tonight I’m going to an open-air concert venue called Circolo Magnolia, just outside Milan, to watch the game on a huge screen on the stage where they usually have gigs,” trumpets Elia Alovisi. “There’ll be seats, but I expect some rowdy scenes should we score. And if we win I expect the 30-minute ride home to turn into at least a celebratory five-hour ride through the city of Milan. Our group will be a mix between Italians, Indonesians, Vietnamese and Saudis – we watched the semis together and it went well I’d say!”

Question: we all know England have had an easier path to the final than Italy. But is that to their advantage in the final? Does it mean they will be fresher than the Italians? Or less battle hardened?

Rotten luck for our man Nick Ames (and all too many others) but the good news for you is you can still read his excellent piece:

“My wife once travelled from Leeds and queued outside the Riverside from just after 7am until 3.30pm to buy tickets for my father and I to go to the League Cup final. Totally worth it (as far as I’m concerned),” writes Dan Taylor, who must be a very lovely man if Mrs Taylor felt moved to do that for him. Or maybe she just wanted him out of the house for a day? Meanwhile, FionnTSmith (09.55) has just sent me photographic evidence of the throngs assembling outside the London pub where he is queuing. There are less than two hours till opening time …

Here is Jonathan Wilson mulling over some of the tactical plotting that will shape today’s story:

“Here in Sydney the legions of ex-pat Poms are all in lock down,” sniffs Alex Wise. “No 5am breakfast beers at the local RSL this time around. Herbal tea on the sofa with a blanket and gas fire on. All tucked up and safe in the warm feeling of football coming home.” Meanwhile, elsewhere in Oz: “Excitement is building down here in Melbourne,” hurrahs Eastsidescally. “A lot of pubs who are showing the match are sold out. Need to get an early night as will need to get up at 4am to drive over to a mates place for a few beers and bacon sarnies. Come on England!!!”

Here is a comment from FionnTSmith below the line. I don’t know whether it’s genuine. “I’m outside the Crooked Billet pub in E5, got here at 7:45 and am second in the queue to a group that arrived at 6:30am – the pub doesn’t open til midday! Come on England!!!” That prompts a question: what is the longest you have ever queued to get into something for leisure (as opposed to for some bureaucratic obligation). Was it worth it?

“Usually at this point in a tournament I’m still wearing my replica 70s Italy top,” reveals Craig Cheetham. “ My grandma was born there and came to Wigan as a nineteen year old. So my second team are usually giving me sommat to still cheer for. This year? Put it in the wash after the semis.”

“My sister sent me a picture of my grandma and her family taken probably in the late thirties/early forties the other day. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen my Italian great grandma and grandad. Him with his resplendent tash and pipe, her with a crocheted, up to the neck dress, hands crossed on her knees. And my absolute double, great uncle Mario in his Sunday best and pencil moustache. My grandma, the Hollywood Italian beauty.
I’ve been looking at the picture for days. These are my people, from back in time. Someone said to me the other day ‘you can’t lose on Sunday’. I replied ‘I can’t win either’. Course I’ll be supporting England but I’ll be thinking of my ancestors and that side of my family. I suppose some of them will be thinking of us.”

Thanks for that, Craig. I happen to live in a town with one of the biggest Italian communities in the UK and most of the streets round here have houses festooned with either English or Italian flags – some have both. So far everyone seems to have been enjoying the buildup in perfect harmony. Let’s hope that spirit continues no matter how the match goes …

One continental championship has already been decided today, as Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America final. Here’s a report on that match. So Lionel Messi finally has an international trophy. Now won’t someone give the poor chap a job?

Speaking of other competitions, it’s 39 years to the day since the final of the 1982 World Cup, which, of course, was won by Italy. If an Italian scores today, he’d better so a Marco Tardelli.

Hello. Some people spend their time wondering what Earth was like when dinosaurs roamed. Others devote their lives to tracking UFOs or hunting ghosts. But you, dear reader, are about to bear witness to something that none of the 107 billion (or so) humans who have lived have ever seen: England in a European championship final. It’s phenomenal, reader! Italy in a major final is a more common occurrence but even still, no one has ever beheld anything quite like these Azzurri, with their dizzying movement, nigh-on relentless attacking and 33-match unbeaten record. It’s extraordinary, reader! And there are only 11 hours to kickoff.

What are you going to do until then? Iron those lucky pants? Drink a crate of cut-price ale? Run out to the park to pretend to be Raheem Sterling firing the winner past Gianlugi Donnarumma, or Ciro Immobilie nutmegging Jordan Pickford, in the hope that those vibes somehow reach Wembley? Hotfoot it to your local shop to buy today’s Observer, to read all the masterful features and think-pieces previewing this final and just to keep it as a souvenir of this historic day? All of those options, and many more, are available to you, dear reader: your only obligation is to be in front of a screen – or in Wembley stadium – in 11 hours time. Exciting, isn’t it! How are you coping? Where are you going to follow the final? With whom? What are your plans for if it ends with the result you want?