As soon as that full time whistle blew on Wednesday night, I had one thought in my head: ‘How am I going to deal with this for four days?’
As an almost entirely Scottish boy who has by birth and good fortune managed to land himself an Italian passport, there is no fixture in the world that stresses me out more than Italy versus England.
And the fact that their next meeting is the Euro 2020 final doesn’t help.
‘I won’t sit still for 90 minutes’
Now, I don’t have a crystal ball, or the courage required to make any kind of prediction for what is going to happen on Sunday night.
But I do know that I’m not going to be able to sit still for 90 (or 120) minutes.
Despite the fact I am actually three-quarters Scottish (a fact my friends quickly remind me of whenever I claim to be an Italian), my name and the time I’ve spent in the Mediterranean country have always made me feel much closer to it.
And its football is a huge part of that.
One of my most vivid memories is of my Nonno jumping up to dance a jig after Mario Balotelli smashed home his close range-winner against the English side during the Brazil World Cup in 2014.
It’s one of my last memories of him, but this weekend I will be wearing his scruffy Italia cap as I watch the game on my train back from York, possibly surrounded by England ultras who will want to punch me in the face.
Still, it’s brought us good luck so far.
Battered at Euro 2012
Another clear memory is of staying up late to watch the two teams, in my mind the Three Lions baddies and the Azzurri goodies, going up against each other in a penalty shootout during another Euros match in 2012.
Now, I hate to confess this to you readers, but I was only 10 years old that year.
I know, I’m far too young and I shouldn’t be writing with any authority on anything, but I was 10 and that was My Euros.
I remember watching an Italy side with Pirlo, Ballotelli, De Rossi and (my personal hero) Buffon confidently strut on to the pitch against Spain.
And I remember watching as that side proceeded to take a 4-0 pumping from Spain.
We watched it in Italy and nobody was very happy.
Praying Euro 2020 final will be different
Now, nine years later, I’m going to watch a team with Chiesa, Jorginho, Verratti and Donnarumma strut into the Euro 2020 final, and this time I’ll be praying for a different result.
Whenever this fixture comes up, I feel a certain sense of responsibility.
Already I’ve had friends message me, saying “we’re all on your side” and “do it for us” and all though the sentiment is nice, it’s a lot of pressure.
It reminds me of, once again, of being the Italian-but-not-that-Italian at school in Dundee and having every game the Azzurri played relayed to me in the playground the morning after.
I’m very glad that, this weekend, my home country will be behind me.
And I’d like to invite everyone reading this – no actually – everyone in Scotland, to join me on Sunday in being Italian-but-not-that-Italian, so we can all boo England together.
Please go out and buy some Tesco pasta and a cheap Italian flag with pride.
I know it’s not allowed with current restrictions, but if I could I would welcome all of you into my flat (or maybe my parents’ house, it’s a bit bigger) to watch the game with my family.
And I hope all of us, the Italians, the Scots, and all the others in between, enjoy one of those games I’ll be talking about in years to come – even if you want to batter me for this incredibly pretentious article.
But mostly I really hope we win.