This feeling never gets old. Nerves jangling, senses heightened and listening to Francesco De Gregori’s Viva l’Italia at the highest volume respect for the neighbours will allow. The eve of a major football tournament is like a triple espresso to the soul for me. It has always been this way…

In normal times, we would be there. An end of season fixture, the chance to show our appreciation for all the games that have gone before. A lap of honour from the players, maybe, and a round of applause from us in recognition of your efforts. …

It sits like any other game in the Italian football almanacs. Match number 215 in the Azzurri’s history has the line-ups, attendance and outcome recorded as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. But that clash at Windsor Park, Belfast, on a Wednesday afternoon in January 1958 represented a…

Gentle is the afterglow following an Italy victory. It feels as relaxing and comforting as your coffee and grappa at the end of a good meal. Now you can sit back and watch others fret over their fate. — Not that Antonio Conte will be letting his troops relax after their impressive win over Belgium. He’s the kind of man who likes to keep tension on a rolling boil throughout a competition. …

Are there any hours pass more slowly than the ones before the kick-off of an Italy game? I’m sure there are plenty but I couldn’t think of them right now. — It is hard to focus on anything ahead of an opening match. There is so much unknown, so little certainty. But there is the sure knowledge that in a few hours time a number of questions will be answered. The nature of Italy’s qualification campaign and subsequent friendly displays have…

Sometimes the anticipation of Italy’s opening game is much better than the reality. — It always starts this way. Relaxed, almost disinterested. A cool analysis of the main contenders and dark horses of the competition. Then it all goes out the window when Italy appear. The Turkey v Croatia game and Poland v Northern Ireland match were typical of the tight opening encounters of…

Sometimes family duties call and you have to put football on the back-burner, at least for a wee while. — So, you take your son to a youth football tournament instead of watching millionaires play the same game. I assure you, the quality of the buzz is stratospherically higher when your own family is involved. What did I miss? A narrow Swiss win in one of the less glamorous fixtures…

The wine has been poured, the coffee drunk and the living room commandeered. Let Euro 2016 begin. — There was plenty for a Serie A fan to watch out for in the opening day clash between France and Romania. Ciprian Tatarusanu delivered a clanger to gift France a lead. Patrice Evra returned the favour to give away an equalising penalty. And, for reasons best known to himself, Didier…

We football fans are a fickle bunch, for sure. A defeat can make our team the most hopeless bunch of failures imaginable. Then, a few days later, a victory dazzles us so brightly we are blinded to all their shortcomings. The middle road is a path we rarely tread. I…