The Italians have had some master manipulators of the ball in midfield over the years. When England faced Italy in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals, we could hardly get near Andrea Pirlo, that outrageously classy operator.
Aside from that chipped spot-kick in the shootout, he bossed proceedings, completing more passes than the entire England midfield and covering a greater distance than any of our boys. That cannot happen again.
On Sunday, the Italian to stop is Jorginho. Spain did a great job of limiting his influence in the semi-final. Italy only had 29 per cent possession and were glad to get to penalties.