England-Italy is not just a football match and probably never will be. Not so much for today's relations, which we can easily define as cordial and respectful, as for the past, which saw the two national teams in constant opposition. Many years have passed since 14/11/1973, when Fabio Capello (then player) violated the sacred temple of Wembley, delivering a historic victory to Italy. From that day on, the British, who until then called us "waiters" (obviously in a derogatory sense), changed their attitude, but the snobbish never went away. For the "inventors of Football" no one could really be up to them, let alone those Italians, good only for eating pizza and spaghetti.
But football can be mocking and so the bill came many years later, obviously with interest. Not so much 12/02/1997, when Gianfranco Zola gave us Wembley again and not even 27/03/2002, the date of yet another looting across the Channel (signed by Montella), as much as 14/12/2007, the day in which the The FA appointed Fabio Capello as the new England manager. The masters of football who turn to an Italian, stuff you won't believe! And it doesn't matter if today, fresh from a good group win against France, Sweden and Ukraine, Mr Fabio is mocked (by the tabloids) and disowned (by the players, Rooney above all): today's England has its unquestionable mold.
You just need to look at it with a little attention to realize it: an ordinance 4-4-2, with a predominant defensive phase (even 8 men behind the ball line), two solid central midfielders with great personalities (Parker, but above all Gerrard), two tireless wingers (Milner) and with an eye for goal (Young) and a great striker (Rooney) supported by a teammate devoted to sacrifice (Welbeck or Carroll). Capello's hand is evident, and never mind if the British pretend not to notice. As an old fox on the bench, Roy Hodgson immediately understood that the most was done, it was enough to season everything with a pinch of nationalism from across the Channel, which evidently never hurts.
This time however, at least on paper, Italy wants to play the game. It is no coincidence that Cesare Prandelli seems oriented towards re-proposing the 4-3-1-2, already victorious against Ireland, a formation which (perhaps) makes us play worse than the 3-5-2 but which guarantees more danger in the offensive phase. Special observation, ça va sans dire, will be Balotelli, this time more than usual. Because Super Mario, as everyone knows, plays for Manchester City and is the daily subject (but perhaps we should say subject) of the front pages of the "worst" English tabloids. Whatever happens on Sunday evening in Kiev, Balotelli will end up in the papers, there's no doubt about that. Let's just hope that the news pleases us too.
