It's Spain against Italy in Euro 2020 semi final.

 It's Spain against Italy in Euro 2020 semi Final. 

It does seem an irony that in the first all Euro centric tournament the countries who have reached the last four of Euro 2020 should be the nations who were once regarded as the most popular and favoured by British holiday makers at the height of the tourist package holiday boom during the 1970s and are now at the forefront of all football's attention now.  It hardly seems possible now, in a world of instant accessibility to any global destination, that Spain and Italy should be slugging it out for a place in the Euro 2020 Final next week. 

Last night Belgium, everybody's favourite international football team, once again fell short of the big prize when trophies seemed to be reaching out to them. For Belgium this was agonising purgatory, the moment when everything that seemed to be going according to plan, went haywire. Perhaps they should have conquered stage fright and nervous tension but even the biggest of incentives can never be quite as tempting as they might seem. Belgium either froze on the big night or just couldn't overcome natural anxieties. 

Now though the realisation may well have dawned on them that their golden generation has now become no more than a transient flash in the pan. By the end of the game, Belgium reminded you of gold diggers who had toiled desperately to find the land of riches and prosperity only to find that the streets were paved with only concrete and broken dreams. One day Belgium may stumble on the promised land but until then they might be advised to simply persevere until it does finally happen. 

Ever since that moment when they finished third in the World Cup in Russia, Belgium have wandered around the world stage like back packers travelling around the world searching for a five star hotel with a beach and palm trees. For a while it did look as though Belgium had found the right key to the vault since their intoxicating brand of delicious, short passing at close quarters threatened to leave the Italians searching for defensive catenaccio. Of course Belgium play the way football should always be played and, at times there were strong flavours of the South American approach to football. 

And yet how surprised and shocked were we at the Italians. For a country whose footballing DNA has always been rooted in the defensive rather than the offensive this was a cultural eye-opener. There were long periods last night of an entirely different Italy, a team of extravagant attacking football, bold adventure, throwing reckless caution to the wind, a team with a deep affection for the finer points of the game, spraying their passes around as if they'd been doing so for ages, connecting. liaising, moving quickly, creating space for each other, a side almost pedantic in its accuracy and precision. 

Italy were uncharacteristically a pleasure to watch although they have won both the Euros and the World Cups on a number of occasions. Of course there is a nagging notoriety about their football from yesteryear. There can never be any question though about their pedigree and stature, a team of lavish gifts but then again annoying hang ups and a persecution complex. Often their football has harder edges, metallic surfaces that just grate on you but then there are redemptive features which lift your heart. 

Not for the first time in this tournament the back four of Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Leonardo Bonucci, the veteran Giorgio Chiellini who only seems to get better with age. Then there was a sparkling display from Leonardo Spinazzola who seemed to be here, there and everywhere, a defender who thought he was an attacking midfield player at the heart of everything but then discovered he had more to offer. 

Then in midfield Nicolo Barella, Jorginho and Marco Verratti were creating isosceles triangles, pin pointing their passes to all areas of the Munich pitch. There was a smooth symmetry to the Italians game that had an almost literary lyricism to it. Italy were superbly attack minded, cavalier, free of concerns and troubles, full of bravura, bravado and braggadocio, the country that loves to express themselves when the mood is right and the occasion suits them down to the ground. This was their time.

After having a goal chalked for offside from a free kick that seemed to go through a forest of legs in the Belgium penalty area. Italy made most uplifting strides into the Belgium half time and time again. Some of us had to rub our disbelieving eyes because we were sceptical about this brand new Italy. Italy were going for broke and almost cherished possession of the ball as if it were theirs by divine right. 

Then minutes later the Italian reservoir flooded forward and this time scored a perfectly legitimate goal. Hunting in packs together, another swift, sweeping movement through the middle of the park eventually ended up at the feet of Nicolo Barella, who twisted and turned mischievously the red Belgian shirts before gliding the ball into the net past a hapless Thibaut Courtois in the Belgium goal. 

At this point Italy became a team possessed, thrusting forward assertively and then pinging the ball around in small clusters before spreading the ball to the flanks. When the Italians added to their lead minutes later there was a sense that we were watching a strange apparition. Nobody had informed us of this Italian renaissance, this new Neapolitan world of sleek designs and beautifully tailored movements both on and off the ball. But we were delighted for the Italians because we knew they had it in them. 

And so it was that Italy scored a second goal. After some brief moments of recovery, Belgium were under the cosh and the goal seemed to deflate the team from the Low Countries. Lorenzo Insigne, buzzing and darting around the Belgian defence like an inexhaustible wasp, latched on to the end of a most elegantly cultured Italian build up, checking back inside his opponent, leaving him flat footed before curling a glorious shot that bent around Courtois leaving him pawing at thin air. 

But then almost on half time Belgium finally found a chink in the Italian armour. Their pleasingly precise and almost scientific football had deserved something from the game. Jeremy Doku, surely destined for greatness in his national side's fortunes, drove his way to the byline with the most powerful run of the first half, beating his defender all ends up and then being bundled off the ball and to the ground. Romelu Lukaku, the giant striker from Inter Milan, stepped up to hammer the penalty confidently past Italy keeper Gianluigi Donarumma. Sadly this was as good as it got for the Belgians. 

Throughout the second half, which had now burst into pulsating life, Belgium flirted with the possibility of finding a way back into the match. However, they came unstuck against a white wall of Italian shirts who were always disciplined as you would expect of any Italian team. But the Belgians couldn't find a way through. Kevin De Bruyne, who had enjoyed another excellent season with Premier League title winners Manchester City, proved an awkward customer but along with Your Tielemans, Alex Witsel, the speedy Jeremy Doku, Thomas Meunier, Belgium were simply flummoxed by the unusual speed, skill and fleet footed dexterity of the Italians.

So it is that Italy went through to the semi final of Euro 2020 as if the past had quite literally been another country. There they will meet Spain who were privileged to be part of that eight goal attacking fiesta against Croatia. Spain of course have grown into the tournament as we always knew they would and although they were pushed all the way by a resurgent Croatia side, Switzerland were equally as tough a nut to crack. 

After going behind to an own goal from Zakaria, the Swiss made a hugely impressive fight of it. The cynics have always attacked the Swiss as being too meek and cowardly to make any kind of impression at either the Euros or the World Cup. This time though Switzerland came forward as some marauding army, dinking the ball among themselves sweetly for a while, a side who had found a completely unexpected fluency. 

Then with the minutes ticking away, the Swiss got their deserved reward. Xherdan Shaqiri, a tidy, neat and attractive touch player, was the beneficiary of some intricate Swiss football. A quickly taken throw  was then chipped over the entire Spanish defence. Remo Freuller, who would later be sent off by a debatable tackle, laid the ball square to Shaqiri who stroked the ball into the net. It would though not be enough on the day. 

It's Italy against Spain in a kind of Iberian peninsula derby in the Euro 2020 semi final at Wembley. England of course will endeavour to make the most of home advantage. We are now conditioned to frayed English nerves, that make or break mentality which has now assumed almost comic proportions for England supporters. England have Ukraine in their sights in today's quarter final and either the Czech Republic or Denmark in the semi final.  This is an age old story that needs no re-telling and the Three Lions in Rome has an almost legendary feel to it. It could be a very long evening for Gareth Southgate and his England. You may be sure of that.