‘Trust in Southgate’: England fans arrive in Italy Euro 2020 quarter final with Ukraine

More than 30 million England fans are expected to cheer on the national side in their UEFA Euro 2020 quarter final against Ukraine, with travel restrictions preventing tens of thousands of fans descending on Rome. 

Millions of viewers are expected tune into the BBC’s coverage of England’s hotly anticipated quarter final, with Denmark awaiting tonight’s winners in next week’s UEFA Euro 2020 semi-final. 

Both Three Lions supporters who remained in the UK and those who made the journey to Rome have vowed to cheer the national side to victory in tonight’s crunch clash.

Thousands of fans have been piling into the 70,000 capacity Stadio Olimpico as England bid to make their first Euro semi final for more than a quarter of a century. 

Chants of ‘Football’s Coming Home’ have echoed around the approaches to the stadium as captain Harry Kane led his team out in warmups, as England fans outnumbered those from Ukraine 4-1 on the streets of Rome.

As our fans both at home and abroad prepare for tonight’s Euro 2020 quarter final match with Ukraine one message is clear: ‘Trust in Southgate’. 

Millions of fans will be cheering on the Three Lions from across the country, with 1,700 supporters eager to share their support as they packed into a Manchester fan park. 

The designated fan zone in London’s Trafalgar Square has started to fill up ahead of England’s match in the Italian capital, and fans were relaxed as the match between Czech Republic and Denmark played in the background on two large screens.

And the players’ wives, girlfriends and family members have all posted their messages of support on social media ahead of the titanic match in Rome this evening. 

Expat supporters from Dubai, Switzerland, Spain, Prague and France were among the first arrivals in the historic Italian city today.

More than 300 flew from the UAE – paying £700 for a return ticket – with a further 200 expected to arrive before the evening kick off.

And even German fans in Rome said they will be cheering on England after they were swayed by the passionate support they saw at Wembley when their team was defeated. 

It comes as fans back home prepare to pack out pubs and beer gardens for tonight’s quarter final clash – as the Three Lions bid to make their first Euro semi final for 25 years. 

Expats, who would normally not get the chance to attend such an important match, made sure their voices were heard.

Among them Tracey Lega and her children Sophia and Oscar who had travelled to Rome from their hone in Tuscany.

They held alof a banner with Football’s Coming Home – Happy Birthday Ali.

Tracey said’ I have not seen my sister for over a year due to Covid restrictions. It’s her birthday on Sunday and we just hope the banner gets picked up on TV’

Also making their way to the ground were three military personnel based at the NATO headquarters in Naples.

Elizabeth Crowe added the finishing touches to an England flag being painted on the cheek of Lisa Taylor as her husband Alex looked on.

He said; It’s a real privilege to be here when so many fans from the UK haven’t been able to make it’

George Allen, who is living in Trieste, said’ There are so many England fans here you would think it’s at Wembley.

it’s not the usual crowd and as it’s all people who live and work outside the UK have some respect got the city hosting the match. I doubt there will be any trouble—- we’ve all got jobs to go to in Monday.

Fans had to show proof of a negative Covid test and proof that they have not evaded the five day quarantine for anyone arriving from the UK.

Police roadblocks were set up across the approaches to the stadium with stewards in high viz jackets checking paperwork.

A police spokesman said they had not made any arrests for breach of quarantine rules

Sam Carlisle, 26, from Reading, headed to Trafalgar Square to enjoy the pre-match buzz ahead of their biggest match of the summer. 

He said: ‘I just wanted to get in the eye of the storm really – just before the match trying to soak a bit of atmosphere and try and see what it’s all about.’

When asked if he was nervous, he said: ‘Not as much as Tuesday, I think we should be able to do it – think of it as two friendlies before the final.

‘It’s all about the lineup, who’s going to play and if we’re going to be attacking or not. Trust in (Gareth) Southgate.’

He said he wasn’t too worried about the team having to play in a pretty empty stadium, saying: ‘I think they’ll still be buzzing off Tuesday – if we get through this game we’ve got another two games coming up at Wembley, so I think we’ll be OK, I think we’ll be fine.’

Back on the home isle, inflatable lions and red crumpets were being blown by supporters at the 4TheFans site in Stretford, Greater Manchester.

Soldier Elliot Mottershead, 25, of Rochdale was among them wearing lucky pants.

Predicting a 3-0 victory, he said: ‘I’ve got my two lucky pants on tonight so I’m very confident. 

‘I was only wearing on of my lucky pants when we played Germany so that’s why it was only 2-0. I’m very sure the boys can do it.’

His girlfriend Hayley Browne, 24, was with him and two friends.

The teacher said: ‘All the kids at school keep asking me if it’s coming home, and I tell them yes.

‘It’s gonna go wild if we win, with beer flying everywhere.’

Plumber Chris Morris, 32, said: ‘I have been so excited all day.’It is so great to be with loads of fans after all the restrictions.

‘I just pray the boys can beat them and keep this all going.’

England fans in central London are buzzing with anticipation and are hoping for another victory.

Supporters decked out in Three Lions shirts are filtering into Soho and lining up to get into pubs to watch the game.

Ha Young, 24, from Seoul in South Korea, came all the way to London just to support England during the Euros.

She told PA: ‘I really love the national team captain, Harry Kane, because I support Tottenham. Hopefully Kane gets a goal and it’s an easy game for England. I think the score will be two nil.’

If England wins, Ha said she will be ‘hugging her friends’ and ‘yelling’. When asked what she will do if England loses, she simply said ‘that will not happen’.

The national side will take on Andriy Shevchenko’s men at the Stadio Olympico in Rome, but Italy remains on the UK’s amber list and supporters have been urged not to travel.

Regulations in Italy also mean they needed to have spent five days in quarantine and have had a negative post-isolation Covid test to be allowed into the stadium.

That means those backing Gareth Southgate’s men in their first away game of the tournament will either be those who call Italy their new home, or who have travelled from another European country to attend the game.

Italian police are set to bring in check points at the Olympic Stadium to intercept and arrest any England fans who slip into the country from the UK.

Expat fans were warned to carry proof of their address or face being arrested and fined £386 if they are found to have breached the quarantine rules.

Meanwhile there are fears celebrating supporters back home will drink pubs and stores dry this weekend because of possible beer shortages.

Deliveries of beer, fresh food and barbecue essentials to pubs, convenience stores and supermarkets are being hit by a national lack of drivers.

Elsewhere models from Ukraine’s notorious ‘Butt Squad’ – jailed for a racy photoshoot in Dubai – posed in Kiev to support their country.

Their balcony image on a skyscraper caused outrage when it went viral in April, but now four of the women used blue and yellow Ukrainian flags as props to back their team.   

Chris Pike, 32, who had flown from his home in Dubai with group of five friends, told MailOnline: ‘There will be more England fans in the stadium than Ukraine and we will make as much noise as possible.

‘I’ve got my England shirt and we will do all we can to cheer England on.’ 

The estate agent, who has lived in Dubai for eight years, was able to enter Italy as the UAE is on the approved list allowed in without quarantine.

He said the Emirates A380 flight to Rome was packed with 300 England fans and said another plane load was due to land later today.  

Mr Pike and his friend Henry Mark,29, estimated the three-day trip, including a match ticket, would cost close to £2,000.

Mr Mark said: ‘When we decided to go after England beat Germany the cheapest flight was £700. The match tickets cost £250 and with the hotel and other expenses it will be about £2,000 – but is worth every penny.

‘This is a one-off opportunity to cheer on England.’ Mr Pike added:’ All our friends in Dubai have been trying to get over here for the match. From what I hear there are hundreds coming from Dubai. 

Joana Moreira, 38 – who works for Coca Cola, and Jose Nunes, 42 – who works for M&S, are both originally from Portugal, but have lived in London for three years.

They both are watching the match from the Uefa Fan Zone in Trafalgar Square.

Ms Moreira said: ‘I think it’s going to be a clear win for England. They way they’re playing, with the new players, it’s a different team from what we’ve had in the past, I think it’s going to be a win and they’ll be in the finals on Sunday.’

Mr Nunes said: ‘I’m cautiously optimistic, I don’t think we’ll keep a clean sheet this time. We’ve been doing it too long, but I think we’ll get there [and win].’

Both said they were originally supporting Portugal before the team were knocked out last week after being defeated by Belgium. Now they are both supporting England.

Insurance underwriter Michael Morris got a huge cheer when he came into the Manchester fan – dressed as Ginger Spice.

Michael, 33, of Sittingbourne, Kent is on his stage do and came in Geri’s famous Union Jack dress. He is due to get married in September.

Michael said: ‘It’s great to be here on my stag do. We’ve come up from Kent for a few days ago. It’s been fanstastic.

‘I got a pretty big cheer when I came in. I quite like the dress to be fair.

Accountant Rees David, 23, of Manchester said: ‘I think we’re the better team. I think it will be 4-1 with lots of goals.’

Builder David Hughes, 36, of Oldham said: ‘I hope Harry Kane will score again as we need him on a hot streak.

‘I really think the boys can get us into the semi-final and then Gareth will have us dreaming we can win the whole thing.

‘I believe we can do it.’

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has retweeted a video posted by the US Embassy in London which shows a member of staff getting increasingly into England’s Euro 2021 campaign with each game they have played so far.

Mr Raab tweeted: ‘Hope you’re watching from somewhere other than the office tonight Aaron. Let us know if you need a bigger flag…. #ItsComingHome #Euro2020.’

The US Embassy London account had written: ‘Whilst settling in to London life, our spokesperson, Aaron Snipe, has got quite into the @England £ThreeLions journey.’

‘It really is a one off and fantastic to be here in Rome and cheer on England. I will get my white shirt on later and we are looking to see if we can get any flags.’

In the hours before the game many of the expats took the opportunity to go sightseeing with the Vatican a popular choice.

Stewart Dunn, 38, who runs his own construction company in Alicante, said: ‘As soon as we beat Germany I was on the phone and booking a flight.

‘Fortunately, I have a friend who is a ticket tout and he was able to get me a ticket which cost me £300. I know it was over the odds and the following day went on the UEFA website and could have bought a ticket for £220.

‘I’m really looking forward to the game as it is not every everyday you get the chance to see England play. Usually, all the tickets are sold in the UK to supporters, but this time due to the quarantine they cannot travel.’

Mr Dunn, who is from Rugby, Warwickshire, said he expected the England fans to be making all the noise in the Olympic Stadium. ‘We will do our best to make sure we are the loudest. I’m really confident England will win.’

As the kick off drew nearer more and more fans wearing England shirts were visible on the streets of Rome. In the popular Piazza Navona four friends from Malta carried a St George flag while nearby Jack Dale, from Mawenne, France, took in some sightseeing before heading to the stadium.

Friends Joe McKenzie and Taran Carter had travelled from Amsterdam and Copenhagen to attend the match.

Mr McKenzie, sporting an England shirt, said he the ban on fans travelling from the UK had given Europe based fans the chance to get a ticket.

He said:’ Usually all the tickets are sold to fans in the UK, but this was a unique opportunity for other fans to get the chance to attend the game.

‘Its going to be a fantastic atmosphere and we’re really looking forward to it. We might not be the average fan, but we plan to cheer as loud as we can.’

Also walking around St Peter’s Square was Thomas Paton, 39, a ski instructor who had travelled from his home in the village of Nendaz, Switzerland.

He said he last saw England play against Andorra more than a decade ago and was not going to miss the chance to be at the quarter final. 

‘I have been following England on the TV, but when the chance came to get a ticket I could not say no. It will be a great atmosphere and I am really looking forward to it.’

He added: ‘Hopefully I can find somewhere to buy a flag and I know all the fans will be doing their best to cheer England on.’

Other fans have travelled from Prague, France and other regions in Italy. With Brexit the expats have all been issued with identity cards and will be able to prove to police at the stadium they are not from the UK.

Meanwhile even German fans in Rome said they will be cheering on England, having been swayed by the passionate support they saw at Wembley when their team was defeated.

Christian Ochssner,24, bought a red Three Lions team strip to wear to the match having temporarily switched allegiances.

He and three friends bought match tickets two years ago and despite the disappointment of seeing their team lose are determined to cheer the Three Lions to victory over Ukraine.

‘We all love hearing the song Football is coming home.,’ said Christian who had flown to Rome from his home in Frankfurt.

‘Of course, it would have been nice if Germany were playing , but as they lost we wanted to cheer on England.’

Christian and his friends Robin Merz,27, Florian Huber,24, and Laura Eisenbarth24, said they loved seeing how passionate the England fans were at Wembley.

‘They just love the game so much and the scenes at Wembley when England won were just amazing,’ said Laura.

‘We all decided that as we had tickets for the match in Rome we would support England. I hope they can win and go all the way to the final.’

Florian, 24, added: ‘We saw how much it meant to English fans to beat Germany. It has been a long time before they defeated Germany, and we hope football is coming home. It was great seeing all the fans singing that song. We thought we would join in and be part of that here in Rome.’

Plain clothed Italian police will wander among the crowds arriving for the match in Rome later today to carry out spot checks and ask for ID papers.

Border police will be focusing on five flights arriving at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinici airport from London and one flight from Birmingham.

A spokesman for the police said they had not intercepted a single fan attempting to breach the strict quarantine rules imposed to keep out the Delta variant. ‘Controls will be tightened ahead of the match,’ said a spokesman.

But police kept watch on more than two dozen boisterous fans who stood drinking outside The Drunken Ship pub in the centre of Rome.

Locals and tourists looked on in bemusement as the fans favoured chant of ‘Don’t take me Home’ rang out from the group, mostly ex-pats from Spain.

Two police vans and a police car were parked in the Campo De Fiori where football fans like to congregate before and after a match at the Olympic Stadium.

There was no sign of trouble with the England fans happy to down pints of lager in the 90-degree sunshine.

Officers did not make any attempt to check if the fans were legally in the country, but instead had been stationed in the area as a precaution.

One fan, who had flown from Malaga said:’ A whole bunch of us flew in today and we’re just having a good time. Lots to drink and then hopefully the right result at the end.’

Other fans gathering in the open-air square include a couple from Geneva in Switzerland.

A steady build up fans throughout the day meant that the few Ukrainian fans in Rome sporting the yellow team strip were heavily outnumbered by supporters in the red and white England shirts.

Bars around the city centre began to empty of fans as they made their way to the stadium about four miles away.

The tickets sold by UEFA have a timed entry with some having to be at the ground by 6pm – three hours before the 9pm kick off.

Even a fan zone set up in the centre of Rome at the Piazza del Popolo where a big screen has been erected to show the Euro 2020 matches will be strictly controlled.

Only fans who can prove a negative Covid 19 test will be admitted although any social distancing was forgotten on Friday night as hundreds of locals watched Italy’s 2-1 win over Belgium.

Italian supporters celebrated into the night driving through the city blasting their car horns in jubilation at the result.

Bars and restaurants showing the match on TV were packed to capacity as locals came out to watch their team progress into the Euro 2020 semi-final.

More than 3,000 England fans are expected to attend the match tonight with dozens of fans flying in from Dubai and other travelling from their homes in other European cities.

Those fans already in Rome were keeping a low profile ahead of the match with not a single white England shirt or flag spotted around the tourist hotspots in the city.

Many of the tickets have been sold to some of the 30,000 expats who live in Italy and the FA returned its allocation of tickets for the 16,000-capacity stadium.

Had Covid restrictions not been in place thousands of fans would have poured into Rome and taken over the open-air bars and restaurants and stood drinking and chanting into the night.

At Campo de Fiori, a favoured drinking spot for fans, ex-pats who had flown in from Dubai stood drinking and chatting.

One of the fans said they had paid an ‘extortionate price’ for a three-day trip to Rome – but added it would be worth it if England win.

‘There were lots of fans on the Emirates flight from Dubai and I know a lot more are coming on the day of the match,’ said the fan, who did not want to be named.

None of the group that had come from Dubai wore football shirts or clothing that would identify they as an England supporter.

‘We are here legally, but with the rules that are in place there is no point in drawing attention to ourselves. If they are looking to keep out fans from the UK turning up in a Three Lions shirt marks you out for attention.

‘We had no problem getting in and I’ve been able to get a ticket from a friend in England who was not able to travel.’

Rome resident and England football fan Dawn Hughes said she was trying to remain calm after securing a ticket for the match.

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme how she was feeling before Saturday evening’s game, Ms Hughes said: ‘A bit of everything, actually.

‘I’ve got butterflies in my stomach but I need to keep calm and I’m trying to get through the day, and then tonight exploding at the stadium.’

Ms Hughes said she had been ‘phoning everybody up asking for tickets’ to the match before a friend, who has a concierge company in London, stepped in to provide one.

Attendees must either be double vaccinated or show proof of a negative coronavirus test, which Ms Hughes said she had after taking a test on Friday evening.

Asked whether there were signs of an English presence in Rome, she replied: ‘No, not at the moment but I’m sure they’ll all be coming in from Europe today.’

Secondary sale websites have almost sold out of match tickets with an Italian based site Ticombo selling over 500 in the last 24 hours.

The 60 tickets left for sale range from £130 up to £500 with the site not requiring proof of residency or quarantine.

Luke Curner, originally from Folkestone, Kent, was able to avoid isolation as he travelled from Helmstedt, Germany, where he lives with his wife and children.

The 36-year-old bought tickets for the match in 2019 as it falls on his birthday weekend and told the PA news agency: ‘I feel very privileged to be here I’m usually on the wrong end of these kind of situations.’

Jack Francis, 20, from Southampton, travelled to Rome from France and said: ‘Obviously it’s nothing like the classic England away day you see on the telly, as apart from being able to hear English being spoken there is minimal English presence.

‘I feel really lucky and privileged to be here and hopefully everything goes smoothly with getting into the stadium. It feels very surreal, and hopefully it will be a memorable game which will be talked about for years to come if we go all the way.

‘I’m feeling confident for the game especially if we play the way we did against Germany. But with the lack of home advantage it will be interesting to see how we play in our first away game of the tournament, but hopefully the England fans here will do all they can to give the players a boost.’

Meanwhile back home fans are hoping the team ‘can give us something to cheer about’ when they take on Ukraine at Euro 2020 in Rome, as pundits predicted a win for the Three Lions.

Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Association, said fans are disappointed about not being able to travel to Rome for the hotly anticipated clash, but added ‘we’ve got used to a bit of disappointment’.

He told Times Radio: ‘We haven’t been watching football live for a long time – club games and internationals (have) been missed, so to some extent, people got used to it.’

Mr Clarke joked that fans were just hoping ‘England can give us something to cheer about’.

When asked if he was confident of victory, he replied: ‘I think it would be silly to be at all complacent, as one or two England fans now are – a bit too over confident – after the German game.’

Mr Clarke added: ‘But I am sure that the manager will ensure that the players aren’t.’ There are also fears celebrating football fans risk drinking pubs and stores dry this weekend because of possible beer shortages.

Deliveries of beer, fresh food and barbecue essentials to pubs, convenience stores and supermarkets are being hit by a national lack of drivers.

The Campaign for Pubs and the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) say wholesalers are failing to make deliveries ahead of the busiest weekend of the year. 

The situation has been exacerbated by a shortage of kegs and delays in deliveries of nitrogen, which is used to add fizz to some brews.

A national shortage of around 60,000 drivers is the key issue, but it is part of a wider crisis across the supply chain from farms to food processors. The impact of Brexit and coronavirus means the UK has lost thousands of workers from the EU. 

At the same time, British drivers have been barred from training and taking tests to drive HGVs due to lockdown restrictions.

The Federation of Wholesale Distributors argues the situation is so bad the Government should put the Army on standby to help.

Greg Mulholland, campaign director of the Campaign for Pubs, said: ‘The England quarter-final on Saturday night will be a great night for England’s pubs, but with some distribution problems, some publicans are worried they won’t get all their beer supplies or fresh food.’

An insider at a major pub restaurant chain said: ‘The ongoing shortage of delivery drivers is putting considerable strain on supply chains for hospitality businesses across the UK.’ Chief executive of the ACS, James Lowman, said: ‘We are calling on the Government to help by temporarily extending driver hours.’

Deliveries of fresh produce and milk to supermarkets have been interrupted or delayed, meaning tonnes of food has been dumped.

The British Meat Processors Association, British Poultry Council and Tesco have all demanded urgent action from the Government to protect food supplies. 

Meanwhile models from Ukraine’s notorious ‘Butt Squad’ – who were jailed for a racy photoshoot in Dubai – posed in Kiev to support their country.

Their balcony image on a skyscraper caused outrage when it went viral in April, but now four of the women used blue and yellow Ukrainian flags as props to back their team.

Yana Graboshchuk, 27, a trained lawyer, said: ‘Our team is our pride, I believe in victory. We will watch and support Ukraine.’ Fellow ‘Butt Squad’ member Diana added: ‘Only forward, only victory.’

They posed overlooking the River Dnipro and People’s Friendship Arch in Kyiv ahead of the Euro 2020 quarter final tie. The four were part of a group that flew to Dubai with US playboy Vitaliy Grechin, 41, based in Kiev, in April.

After a scandalous naked shoot on a balcony, 13 of the female participants were held in a ‘hell’ jail in Dubai as was Grechin.

They were accused of public indecency but eventually released and ordered to leave the United Arab Emirates. Soviet-born Grechin was a donor to ex-US president Barack Obama.

The prize for winning against Ukraine would be a semi-final against either the Czech Republic or Denmark at Wembley, with attendance at the London ground set to be increased.

Pundits predicted a win for the Three Lions, with former manager Harry Redknapp predicting a 3-0 win for England while former England goalkeeper David James said he believes it will be a 2-1 win for the Three Lions. 

Redknapp, a former Tottenham Hotspur boss, told Times Radio he thinks England will also go on to beat Denmark in the semi-final and eventually meet Italy in the final – and win.

He said England have ‘a fantastic group of players’, and speaking about Ukraine, he added: ‘I don’t think they’re anywhere near the same class as we are. I think we’ll beat them comfortably.’

James, who was England’s goalkeeper from 1997 to 2010, said he believes England have a chance as they will want to ‘hold on’ to the ‘euphoria’ of winning 2-0 against Germany on Tuesday.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: ‘What happened at Wembley, and Gareth has said about it, was a very special night. In order to win the competition, you’ve got to go up and down against different opposition.

‘Ukraine will be a completely different proposition to the last match against Germany. The way that Gareth and the team have been speaking, they know they’ve got to win the game… I’ve got faith in (weatherman Matt Taylor) Matt’s prediction at 2-1.’

And Paul Gascoigne went a step further and claimed his former teammate Southgate was the perfect manager for England.

Gazza was England’s talisman at Euro 96 and was seen consoling Southgate after the defender’s penalty miss against Germany in the semi-final shootout.

England will attempt to join Italy and Spain in the Euro 2020 semis when they face Ukraine in Rome on Saturday night.

‘The crucial thing is for as many England fans as possible to get to the game and, most importantly, get behind Gareth,’ Gascoigne told The Sun.

‘He’s the answer to everything for us, and we need to believe in him. I know Gareth well and we’re still good mates so I know he’s got what it takes to take us all the way. He’s the key.

‘Gareth is amazing, and a good mate. I’ve spoken to him fairly recently before the tournament. We’ve always stayed in touch. When we played together, he was an amazing team-mate but a brilliant bloke off the pitch, too.

‘He’s always been good to me on a personal level. He’s very approachable. He understands people and he understands football. He’s a smart guy.

‘He’s also very proud of his role with England, which he should be. It’s the ultimate job for a football man, and he really deserves it.’

More than 60,000 football fans will be allowed to attend the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 at Wembley if they have a negative Covid-19 test or prove they are double vaccinated.

This could lead to some of the largest crowds in the UK since the start of the pandemic. All ticket holders will be required to have a negative coronavirus test or provide proof of two doses of a vaccine 14 days before a game. 

The Lion’s roaring back! After a miserable year, leading historian DOMINIC SANDBROOK revels in boosterish Britain’s new optimism (so surely nothing can go wrong for England tonight…)

by Dominic Sandbrook for the Daily Mail

Can there be a better feeling than watching England beat Germany 2-0 at Wembley, after a pandemic that has lasted for a year and a half? 

On Tuesday evening, as the referee blew the final whistle and confirmed England’s first knockout victory over the Germans in my lifetime, I couldn’t immediately think of one.

‘We haven’t seen scenes like this in a football ground for a long, long time,’ said the BBC’s Guy Mowbray after the first goal. He was right — not just because it symbolised a nation’s release after months of lockdown, but because it was so rare for us to be in the lead against Germany.

As Wembley erupted in flags and songs, I thought back to previous defeats by our Teutonic cousins, seared into the memory of anybody who, like me, spends far too much emotional energy on England’s footballers.

First was the World Cup semi-final in 1990, when I was still at school. Gary Lineker’s goal, Gazza’s tears, Chris Waddle’s penalty . . . if you’re about my age, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Then, in the semi-final of Euro 96, came another soul-sapping shootout. Alan Shearer scored early, and football was coming home. Then, after a German equaliser and two hours of bitten nails, Gareth Southgate stepped up . . . and you probably know the rest.

In the grand scheme of things, football might seem utterly trivial. And yet, like so many apparently unimportant things, it matters. You don’t even have to like it to see that.

Rightly or wrongly, the game dominates the hopes and dreams of millions of ordinary people across the country. Often, it sets the national mood.

So when England beat West Germany to win the World Cup in 1966, it set the seal on the Swinging Sixties, a golden summer of optimism and opportunity, presided over by a football-loving prime minister in Labour’s Harold Wilson.

Perhaps it was no coincidence, then, that when England lost their crown in Mexico in June 1970 — beaten by, surprise, surprise, the Germans — Wilson suffered a shock election defeat just four days later.

In a flash, the 1960s were over. As Wilson never tired of telling his aides, football really did matter after all.

So I hope even football-haters will forgive me when I suggest that Tuesday’s match, too, could be a landmark moment.

After all, England will never have a better chance of winning silverware, with a Wembley semi-final and, God willing, a Wembley final awaiting them if they can win the atch tonight.

As is often the way, the timing could hardly be better. The worst of the pandemic, thank goodness, seems behind us. A summer of freedom lies ahead.

Is it fanciful, then, to hope that, one day, historians will see England’s landmark victory over our most formidable foe as one that presages something much bigger? After all, for the first time since those early rumours emerged from Wuhan, there really are reasons to be cheerful.

Let’s start with the obvious: the virus itself. Thanks to the Delta variant, Covid infections have risen again, with almost 28,000 new cases reported on Thursday.

But there’s no doubt that the vaccines are working — and far better than anybody predicted. As the Mail showed in graphs this week, hospital admissions and, crucially, deaths are far below the levels in the first waves.

Over this past week, there were, on average, just 16 deaths a day from Covid. Each was an individual tragedy. But in a country where 85 per cent of adults have had at least one vaccine dose, they are not figures to terrify us into another lockdown.

No wonder, then, that at Wimbledon on Monday, the spectators rose as one to applaud the scientist Dame Sarah Gilbert, who designed the life-saving Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. It’s no exaggeration to describe her as the woman who has given us our freedom.

As Britain opens up, of course, cases are bound to rise. Most scientists agree the final stages of the Euros, as well as greater mixing over the summer holidays, will bring more infections.

Yet there’s no reason to fear a surge in deaths. Covid may never go away, but the vast majority of us can look forward to resuming our normal lives.

And what a refreshing change that the new Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, recognises the importance of getting Britain moving again.

In stark contrast to his predecessor, Matt Hancock, who was clearly distracted by his own version of social distancing, Mr Javid has made all the right noises from the outset.

His mission, he said this week, was to ‘help return the economic and cultural life that makes this country so great’.

And rejecting talk of delaying Freedom Day, set for July 19, he reminded the Commons that no date ‘comes with zero risk for Covid. We cannot eliminate it, instead we have to learn to live with it’.

Unlike his hapless predecessor, Mr Javid is a serious politician. The state-educated son of a Pakistani bus driver, he worked his way up to become a senior figure at Deutsche Bank, and served as both Business Secretary and Chancellor.

He knows, in other words, that it’s vital to get our economic engines roaring again, not least because economic health and public health are so closely entwined.

To put it bluntly, we can’t sustain the NHS on debt forever. At some point, Britain’s businesses must start making money, not least because we need the tax revenue to fund the estimated 2.4 million operations cancelled during the pandemic.

But the signs from Whitehall are promising. On Thursday evening the Prime Minister was absolutely explicit, promising that within weeks we will have returned to ‘a world that is as close to the status quo, ante-Covid, as possible’.

So on July 19, it looks as if we can forget the rule of six, the one-metre rule and the 30-person limit, which is great news for festivals, theatres and wedding planners.

No more bubbles, no more social distancing. No more instructions to work from home either. And above all, no more of those masks, a grim necessity very few of us have learned to love.

What else? Well, without getting too carried away, there’s a decent chance that some of us might get abroad this summer, after all.

In yet another defeat for the Germans — and yes, I know I’m gloating — Spain, Portugal and Greece have roundly rejected Angela Merkel’s scheme to keep British tourists out of Europe. Boris will have been stressing to the German Chancellor the importance of opening up on her visit to Britain yesterday.

The Government is reportedly close to agreeing a deal with Brussels, allowing fully jabbed Britons to use the NHS app as a vaccine passport, which means we can visit Europe without punitive restrictions.

And now for the really good news, on which Britain’s future really depends. The economic outlook, which I feared would be utterly bleak as Covid receded, is rather sunnier than most of us expected.

According to the latest projection by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Britain’s economy is set to grow by 7.1 per cent this year, the fastest rate since 1941. And next year should see the boom continue, with growth of about 5.5 per cent.

Other figures tell the same story. The Confederation of British Industry’s quarterly index of manufacturing output, which has been running since 1975, has just shown the biggest surge in its history.

And some analysts estimate that British households have saved a staggering £190 billion in lockdown — money people can hardly wait to spend on restaurant meals, holidays, evenings out and other consumer pleasures.

What about jobs? Well, the end of the furlough scheme will probably bring short-term pain for some. But in huge numbers of businesses there is currently a staff shortage — one that is actually limiting their capacity.

The truth is that, at 4.7 per cent, unemployment is nowhere near as bad as many predicted it would be a year ago, and not remotely as bad as it was in, say, the 1980s.

For four months in a row, the jobless rate has fallen. And the Bank of England’s outgoing chief economist Andy Haldane has even warned that inflation — currently 2.1 per cent, but likely to rise to about 4 per cent by the end of the year — could prove a greater threat than unemployment, with too much money chasing too few goods.

That’s a useful reminder there are bound to be bumps in the road. The current house price explosion — up by 13.4 per cent in the past year, the fastest rise since 2004 — is bound to end eventually. And if it coincides with a spike in interest rates to cope with inflation, then that could spell trouble for some homeowners.

But this is the kind of nuts-and-bolts issue normal governments face all the time. It’s a return to normal life — hardly an existential threat.

And here’s another reason to be cheerful: Brexit. Yes, you read that right. Some readers may recall that I voted Remain, largely because I was worried about the economic dangers.

But the sky patently hasn’t fallen in, as so many Remainers predicted. Indeed, just this week Nissan unveiled plans for a new £1 billion factory in the North-East, creating some 6,200 jobs and making 100,000 electric-car batteries a year.

As the Mail’s Alex Brummer wrote yesterday, this was the most important industrial decision taken by a major international giant in Britain since the referendum in 2016. And it’s also a victory for Boris Johnson’s ‘levelling-up’ agenda, as well a sign to the world that Britain is well and truly open for business.

Nissan’s chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta even said: ‘Brexit gives us the competitive advantage not only within the United Kingdom but outside the United Kingdom also.’ Quite a change of tone for the company, as he admitted: ‘Brexit, which we thought is a risk . . . has become an opportunity for Nissan.’

No doubt there will be more Brexit twists to come, such as the recent row about Brussels’s absurd attempt to stop Britain selling sausages to Northern Ireland.

But there are welcome signs even here that the EU are beginning to yield to reason, since they have agreed to a three-month extension for the much-maligned British sausage, and are beginning to talk about cooperation rather than obstruction.

The hysterical cultural politics of the past 12 months, inflamed by the reaction to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, also seem to be receding from view.

This time last year, I was writing in these pages about the appalling violence and vandalism in London, where the Cenotaph had to be boarded up to protect it from Left-wing activists.

The headlines were dominated by Black Lives Matter, and all the talk was of intractable division and supposedly ‘systemic’ racism.

But in the past few weeks, I’ve detected a distinct weariness with this whole poisonous, cynical and exploitative business. And this brings me back to England’s footballers.

Some are white, some black, some mixed-race. But really, who cares? Watching them on Tuesday evening, nobody could possibly question their skill, spirit and love of country — all of which would have made their predecessors proud.

After so many lectures about Britain’s supposed racism, how heartening it is to see England’s top goalscorer, Raheem Sterling, hailed as a hero by the Wembley faithful.

And how splendid to see the manager, Gareth Southgate, an impressively articulate, decent and patriotic man, redeemed after his penalty agony against the Germans a quarter of a century ago.

Patriotism is a dirty word in liberal intellectual circles, I know. Earlier this year, when Labour’s beleaguered leader Keir Starmer floated plans to embrace the Union Flag, some of his own MPs accused him of flirting with the far-Right.

But one of the many wonderful things about Tuesday night was that it reminded us just how patriotic most ordinary Britons are. Despite all the hullabaloo of the past year, most of us cherish our history, love our country and are proud to fly our flag.

And let’s face it, we have so much to be patriotic about, don’t we? Not just Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish, but a world-leading vaccine programme, a booming economy, the end of restrictions and a renewed sense of national optimism.

If tonight’s match goes to plan, and the Wembley crowd roars our boys to victory on Wednesday, then next Sunday England could be just 90 minutes away from our first title since 1966. Now that really would be the stuff of patriotic dreams.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First things first. Bring on the Ukrainians! 

Meet the ‘world’s most beautiful WAG’ plus everything else you need to know about England’s Euro 2020 opponents Ukraine ahead of tonight’s quarter-final 

THE TV STAR

Stunning blonde Vlada, 25, is married to Manchester City left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, 24. She is a presenter for a Ukrainian TV football station and has been called the world’s most beautiful WAG. 

The two married in August last year after Oleksandr proposed inside the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, and she is expecting their first child. They have been dubbed Ukraine’s ‘Posh and Becks’.

INDEPENDENT WOMAN

Model, dancer and actress Christina Yaremchuk, 27, is the wife of striker Roman.

They have been together since he was 16 and she 18 — Christina says she approached him saying: ‘Boy, you have beautiful eyes’. Married since 2017, they have a toddler son. Roman previously played for Dynamo Kiev and now plays for Gent in Belgium. She has worked as a fitness coach and has spoken out against WAGs who live off their boyfriends.

GREAT COOK 

A mother of three young sons, Margarita Stepanenko has been married for eight years to midfielder Taras, who plays for Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk. A local celebrity, she has her own clothing brand and shares her favourite recipes online.

FASHION LOVER

Married to midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi since 2016, Roksana, 27, is settled in Bergamo, Italy, while he plays for its club Atalanta. Their daughter Olivia was born in 2019. She says that she is planning to open a shop in the city.

Roksana, who was raised in Sevastopol — the largest city and a major port in the Crimea, said: ‘Sitting at home is not my style. Since Italy is a country of textiles, it is a sin not to get in touch with fashion and clothing.’

THE MODEL

Mother of two Tania is the model wife of defender Yevhenii Makarenko, 30, who plays for the Belgian team Kortrijk on loan from Anderlecht. Their children are Emi, born in 2019, and Alexander, born in 2017. The family lives in Brussels.

THE CHARITY WORKER

Inna Yarmolenko married West Ham forward Andriy in 2011 and they have three young sons. She has worked as an interpreter at a charitable foundation and says that in the early years, ‘my earnings helped us a lot’. Andriy now earns £115,000 a week.

GERMAN REF WITH A TOUGH REPUTATION

Let’s hope Felix Brych is not a man to bear a grudge — the German will referee tonight’s clash just four days after England knocked his nation out the Euros.

Brych, 45, hails from Bavaria and is one of the best-known referees in world football.

Some of his decisions have been controversial: in the 2018 World Cup he didn’t give Serbia a penalty against Switzerland even though it appeared that striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was being held down by two Swiss players.

UKRAINE KIT’S PATRIOTIC MESSAGE

The yellow and blue of the Ukraine kit may be a sunny ode to the national flag, which represents blue skies above a field of wheat. But this particular kit, unveiled shortly before the tournament began, has fuelled ongoing and bitter rivalries with Moscow.

This is because it includes an outline map with the peninsula of Crimea — annexed by Russia in 2014 but which is still internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

Look closer and you will see the phrase ‘Glory to Ukraine’ on the back of the neck. The shirts did also carry the phrase ‘Glory to the Heroes’ before Russia complained and they were removed.

The slogans, rooted in Ukraine’s anti-Soviet insurgency, are used as official military greetings in Ukraine, and were a rallying cry by protesters who forced out pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. Cue complaints to UEFA from angry Russia. The Kremlin’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, wrote: ‘Sport is not a battlefield, rather it is a field for competition. Become sporting heroes and you will have glory. Do it that way and not with nationalist slogans.’

MANAGER WITH THE GOLDEN BOOT

Ukrainian manager Andriy Shevchenko, 44, has much in common with England’s Gareth Southgate — intelligent, always immaculately turned out (in Giorgio Armani suits made by his Italian fashion designer pal) and a lover of the UK.

His brief sojourn as a Chelsea player may not have been an overwhelming success, but Shevchenko won the 2004 Ballon d’Or while at Italian club AC Milan. He still has a house in Surrey, speaks fluent English and Italian and often plays golf with John Terry and Jamie Redknapp.

Curiously, while his English may be good, he is not so confident with Ukrainian — his native tongue is Russian (like nearly 30 per cent of his countrymen).

Married to American former model Kristen Pazik, he has glamour and sporting history at his side — her father was former New York Yankees pitcher Mike Pazik. A mother-of-four, she often shares photographs of her sons — the second of whom, Kristian, is on Chelsea’s books at just 14, and has been touted as a future England star.

DANGER MEN FOR ENGLAND HEROES

The team danger man is well-known to England fans, West Ham United’s Andriy Yarmolenko. And then, of course, there’s the familiar face of team captain (and talisman) Oleksandr Zinchenko, a Manchester City player and team-mate of England’s man of the moment, Raheem Sterling, along with his fellow England men Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden.

Another star player is Ruslan Malinovskyi. He has an extra incentive to get on the pitch; his wife reportedly bakes him a cake for every goal scored.

MAKE MINE A SHOT OF BURNING WATER

Some of Ukraine’s biggest exports include steel, grain and sunflower seeds.

But possibly not chicken Kiev. Yes, it is a Ukrainian dish named after the capital, but its origins are much debated. One line of thought is that it was invented by a Parisian chef to impress a Russian tsar 200 years ago.

The best-known national foods are borscht, a beetroot soup, and varenyky (dumplings) along with a side dish of salo, better known as lard, which is popular served on bread with borscht. The national drink is a moonshine called Horilka — translated as ‘burning water’ as it can be flavoured with chilli — of which the nation drinks an average 27 pints a year.

However, younger drinkers have moved away from the often home-brewed spirit, and prefer beer. Cheers!

The Neil Diamond classic that’s England’s anthem

It’s the sound that stopped Harry Kane in his tracks as the final whistle blew at Wembley — 40,000 England fans roaring out Neil Diamond’s classic hit Sweet Caroline.

Even Gareth Southgate gave it a name-check: ‘To hear [the fans] at the end I mean, you can’t beat a bit of Sweet Caroline, can you? That’s a belter, really.’

So how did a catchy 1969 U.S. hit overtake Three Lions as the sound of the 2020 Euros? The song’s popularity as a sporting anthem appears to lie across the Atlantic; NFL’s Carolina Panthers and Boston Red Sox baseball team came first, in the mid 1990s. And from there it grew.

Fans of Reading FC started singing the hit back in the club’s record-breaking 2005-6 season. Oxford United have played it after every home victory since 2016, and Arsenal and Aston Villa fans also like to belt it out.

Diamond biographer Jon Bream says: ‘Once you get to the chorus, everyone seems to know the lyrics.’

Where it began, I can’t begin to knowing

But then I know it’s growing strong

Was in the spring

And spring became the summer

Who’d have believed you’d come along

Hands, touching hands

Reaching out, touching me, touching you

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

I’ve been inclined

To believe they never would

But now I…

…look at the night and it don’t seem so lonely

We filled it up with only two

And when I hurt

Hurting runs off my shoulders

How can I hurt when holding you

One, touching one

Reaching out, touching me, touching you

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

I’ve been inclined

To believe they never would

Oh no, no

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

Sweet Caroline

I believe they never could

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good.

Was that really a bra?

Hero striker Artem Dobvkyk headed his team into the quarter-finals with an extra-time winner against Sweden on Tuesday night. But whipping off his shirt for a post-goal celebration, the 24-year-old revealed something surprising underneath . . . a bra, or what looked suspiciously like one. In fact, think less crop top, more sophisticated piece of technology designed to help players perform at optimum level.

The £200 GPS tracking devices are popular in elite sport and allow coaches and analysts to track performance. Liverpool and Manchester United have been known to use them, as have England.

Eyes peeled for any chest-baring antics from Southgate’s squad.

What their fans chant 

The chants of the opposition may ring louder than usual, thanks to Covid restrictions preventing England supporters travelling to Rome.

So what will they be saying? A rude anti-Putin chant is very popular, as are the Glory To Ukraine, Glory To The Heroes slogans, both team mottos. Another song is associated with the fanatical Ukrainian Ultras (accused by Moscow of being neo-Nazis) and talks of fighting for independence and stabbing Russians.

What else could they sing?

Football’s coming home

Futbol povertayet’sia dodomu

Back of the net

Sitka

Are you blind, ref?

Chy ty slipuy, suddia

Ukraine coach’s life… in London 

By Kamal Sultan for the Daily Mail

For the past 15 years, Ukraine’s manager Andriy Shevchenko and his supermodel wife Kristen Pazik have called London home.

But Shevchenko, who has played for Chelsea, is looking to crush the hopes of the nation when his team play England tonight.

He is one of Ukraine’s greatest ever players and remains their record goalscorer with 48 goals in 111 caps. But he enjoyed the best part of his illustrious playing career in Italy. For AC Milan, he netted 175 goals in 322 games.

He met his American wife Miss Pazik, 42, at a party in 2002 and they married two years later. The couple have four sons together – Jordan, 16, Kristian, 14, Alexander, 8, and Rider Gabriel, 7.

The family has lived in London since Shevchenko’s move to Chelsea in 2006. But he struggled to find form playing for the west London club and left in 2009.

When he was later asked if the move had been a mistake, Shevchenko, 44, said: ‘Everything is as it should have happened, so it happened. I have been living in London for the past 13 years. My family is there, plus I wanted my children to go to school there.’

His son Kristian, who was born in London, will have a difficult time choosing what team to support tonight as he is part of Chelsea’s academy and could qualify to represent England in the future.

Shevchenko has guided Ukraine to their first European Championship quarter-final. Speaking about tonight’s clash in Rome, he said: ‘We are fully aware how tough this game is going to be. They are incredibly difficult to score against but their strength shouldn’t scare us.’

A game of two (other) halves for this couple

By Lizzie Deane for the Daily Mail

For England fan Sarah Nutbrown it will be a case of ‘who’s sleeping on the sofa’ after she and her Ukrainian partner watch the quarter-final together.

Miss Nutbrown has been cheering for Ukraine during their Euro 2020 games so far, even wearing boyfriend Stefan Yuri Furgala team’s yellow and blue stripes. 

But the 27-year-old teaching assistant said her England shirt would definitely be back on for tonight’s game, leaving the household divided. ‘The shirts have been washed – they’re ready,’ she said.

‘For both of us, it’ll be brilliant to watch the teams play. But it’ll be who’s sleeping on the sofa on Saturday night.’

Sports coach Mr Yuri Furgala, 23, said he was feeling ‘nervous’ ahead of the game. Tensions between the couple, from Nottingham, may be eased by the presence of Miss Nutbrown’s six-year-old, Rosie.

Miss Nutbrown added while one of them was inevitably going to end up gutted, they would be pleased either way for the winner.