Italy’s government basks in the glow of footballing success

THE EURO 2020 final between Italy and England was striking, not just for the clash of footballing styles in the match itself, but for the socio-political undercurrents that swirled between the two sides and touched on issues that included nationalism, internationalism and racial sensitivity. In at least one respect, it was a victory for Europeanism. It was the first UEFA European championship final to be played since Britain’s exit from the European Union. And although Brexit was not prominent in Italian commentary in the build-up to the game, it was never far below the surface. Hours before the match, one of Italy’s most popular television presenters, Ezio Greggio, used Instagram to urge Roberto Mancini and his team to “make them do a Brexit from the Euros too”.

That they did just that was as much of a boost for Italy’s fervently communautaire prime minister, Mario Draghi, as it was a dampener for his Brexit-sponsoring counterpart, Boris Johnson. A columnist for Il Mattino, a Naples daily, credited Mr Draghi, a former president of the European Central Bank, with “creating an internationally favourable context for Italy, presenting it in European and global forums as a serious and credible country”. Such a country, he added, was “equipped to win”.