Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EXCLUSIVE: Raith Rovers star Dario Zanatta reveals family joy as Italy claim Euro 2020 title

Italy's heroes
Italy's heroes

It is a good week to be in possession of an Italian passport.

And to also score your first goal for a new club?

Little wonder Dario Zanatta’s smile sparkled like the Henri Delaunay Trophy in the aftermath of Raith Rovers’ 4-0 win over Brechin.

Third goal against Brechin: Zanatta

Although a proud Canadian — coming through the ranks at Vancouver Whitecaps before moving to Scotland to join Hearts in August 2015 — his father’s side of the family are as Italian as they come.

His dad, Dante, hails from the outskirts of Milan, sparking Dario’s fandom of the Rossoneri, but moved across the Atlantic in the 1960s to start a new life on Vancouver Island.

Nevertheless, Zanatta’s allegiances were clear when Italy defeated England on penalties to win Euro 2020 on Sunday night.

“I watched it in town with a few friends and managed to get a bit of the atmosphere,” the 24-year-old told Courier Sport. “It was a bit of a roller-coaster and the nerves were going when Italy conceded so early.

“But they showed their quality in the end and the right team won the trophy.

Champions: Italy

“My father’s side of the family are all Italian so I am genuinely half-Italian. I have my Italian passport so I can wave that when people accuse me of being a glory-hunter!

“Dad is as calm as they come. I think, living in Canada, he is aware there’s not much he can do. But we Facetimed after the game and, of course, he was absolutely delighted.

“I’ve seen Italy win the World Cup when I was younger and now the European Championships. Not many people can say that about a country that means so much to them, so I’m proud of that.”

He added: “That rivalry between Scotland and England fans is a little bit like being Canadian and looking at the Americans — it’s all about them — so it was nice for the Italians to bring them down a peg or two.”

Havoc

Whether he had an extra spring in his step after watching Giorgio Chiellini clutching silverware at Wembley, Brechin City found the winger utterly impossible to contain on Tuesday night.

Drifting in from the left flank and causing havoc with his direct running, Zanatta scored the third goal of the game and was a constant threat throughout a one-sided contest.

Zanatta as a youngster at Hearts

“Watching Italy win the Euros then scoring my first goal of this spell made for a pretty enjoyable couple of days,” added Zanatta, who did find the net six times during a loan stint with Rovers in 2017/18.

It wasn’t the cleanest I’ve ever scored and it took a little deflection — but it’s a goal and I’m off the mark.

“We could have scored six or seven on the night and, just like in all of our pre-season games, we are creating lots of chances. It’s just about cashing in on those.”

‘I came in for Dimitar Berbatov’: Matej Poplatnik discusses journey from Kerala to Kirkcaldy after debut win with Raith Rovers