By FourFourTwo guest columnist Riccardo Rossi of Serie Aaaaargh!
From utter despair and grumblings of a fix, to joy unabated: Italy in a nutshell.
Wednesday dawned bright and warm right across the peninsula and the local cafes were handing out free croissants â limited edition, first come, first served.
The world this side of the French border, at least, is a better place.
The Small Faces tune, âÂÂItâÂÂs all too beautifulâ â yes, itâÂÂs a bit of time warp here - was blasting out. The title was splashed across the front-page of La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
âÂÂItaly beat France and Holland donâÂÂt give Romania a little discount - and all in one night.âÂÂ
It doesnâÂÂt get any better than that for the Pink âÂÂUn who could not forget the little favour from the Dutch in defeating Romania.
âÂÂThanks Holland,â they added. Of course, that will all be forgotten if the Azzurri meet the Orangemen in the semi-finals.
BOOM! De Rossi takes aim and fires Azzurri into quarter-finals
No use leaping too far ahead. There is the small matter of Spain in the quarter-finals although the dailies have their âÂÂVamosâ headlines ready.
ThatâÂÂs for another day, i.e. tomorrow, but there's enough to bask in the warm afterglow of putting the French and the reviled Raymond Domenech to the sword.
âÂÂViva ItaliaâÂÂ, was how Corriere Dello Sport hailed the victory.
âÂÂEveryone is a Champ,â thundered Tuttosport who of course can never let go of their Juventus bias and gave the man-of-the-match award to Gianluigi Buffon while at the same time failing to resist a moan at Alex Del PieroâÂÂs absence.
Anyway, letâÂÂs enjoy the good times while we can as no doubt there will be plenty of complaining to come.
As the old Italian joke goes: A son calls his mother and says: âÂÂMamma, how are you?â Mamma answers: âÂÂFine.â The son replies: âÂÂSorry, I must have the wrong number.iâÂÂ
Forza Italia!
