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3 J O R G I N HO maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 JULY 2021 EURO 2020 History 'repeating' James Debono explains the historical battleground of the lasting British influence and the pull of Italian culture for Maltese football fans Previous encounters In their previous meetings, Eng- land won eight of their games against Italy, drawing eight times and losing 11 times. The last time the two teams met in an official tournament was in the 2014 World Cup group stages, with Italy emerging as winners thanks to a Mario Balotelli goal in the 50th minute of the match. England's last win in an in- ternational competition against Italy came in the 1977 World Cup, with goals from Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking giving the Three Lions the victory. England also won a 2012 international friendly against the Azzuri, with goals from Phil Jagielka and Jermain Defoe. Players to watch out for 25-year-old Jack Grealish is an English fan favourite, with his quick speed and decisive passing, proving to be a match winner. Despite not getting regular starts under Gareth Southgate, the As- ton Villa man has proved himself as a nuisance to opposing teams, even when coming off the bench. Manchester United's Luke Shaw was a revelation in the last sea- son, and has continued his daz- zling form in the Euros. Italy's Jorginho, who won the Champions League final with Chelsea, is a man on a mission to silence critics. His midfield performances in the tournament have been a force to reckon with, with a pass accuracy of 95.2%. He will be key to Italy's chances. Captains fantastic: Italy's Giorgio Chiellini, and England's Harry Kane J A C K G RE A L I S H G I A N L U I GI D O N N A R U M M A Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has had a fantastic tournament, and his recent performances will spur him on. The 22-year-old goalkeeper, who will be joining French giants Paris Saint-Germain, has made the position his own, after taking over from legend Gianluigi Buffon. He has been playing for the national team for five years, but is still yet to concede more than one goal in a game. THE polarisation between England and Italy football fans in Malta which culminates in today's final, may be rooted in the long-for- gotten language question pitting tradition- al, pro-Italian elites against an emerging pro-English middle class back in the 1920s. But it also has a lot to do with the cul- tural legacy of post-war Italian TV that was broadcast in Malta, which is now chal- lenged by the globalisation of club football and television rights and the fragmenta- tion brought by Cable TV and streaming. Archbishop Charles Scicluna's tweet lamenting on the blocking of RAI trans- missions of Italy games in this Euro tour- nament, due to PBS rights, resonated with a generation whose football commentary was delivered by such legendary veterans as Bruno Pizzul. Scicluna may have echoed the sensibili- ties of 'traditional' elites which hark back to a bygone era where the church hierarchy cautiously identified with the pro-Italian side in the language question: a political issue which dominated Maltese politics till the 1930s until it was settled once and for all by universal resentment against Italian bombs fall- ing on Malta during World War II. Past surveys by MaltaToday on football sympathies indicate a degree of historical continu- ity. A survey during the 2014 World Cup showed that Italy was more popular among the university-educated and PN voters, while England remained more popular among Labour voters and over-55s. But compared to previous surveys from 2006 and 2010, it showed that while sup- port for Italy had grown among 35-55s (8pp) - the generation that grew up follow- ing Italian TV - support for England was rising among those aged 18-34 - the gener- ation which grew up with cable and satel- lite TV and the commercialisation of club football dominated by brand names like Manchester United, the most popular club in Malta according to the same surveys. Although overall Italy supporters were found to be slightly more numerous than British fans, demographic trends which previously favoured Italy in the perenni- al 'old firm' struggle between the former colonial rulers and our Latin neighbours, may be turning in England's favour as a new generation largely untouched by Ital- ian TV takes over. Yet this may well change again due to the influx of Italian migrants in the past few years, who are bound to leave their mark on the Maltese football landscape as they settle here. Football and politics The 2014 survey showed that while 47% of Nationalist voters support Italy, 46% of Labour voters support England. While 34% of Labour voters support Italy, 33% of PN voters support England. But while among PN supporters support for England was slightly less than it was in 2006, support for Italy among Labour voters had increased by a remarkable 13 points. This proba- bly reflected the massive shift which took place in the 2013 general election, which saw a massive chunk of Nationalists drift- ing to Labour. Sympathy for Italy or for England also runs parallel with the lines of the political duopoly, with a majority of Nationalist vot- ers supporting Italy and the majority of La- bour supporters supporting England. This resonates with the origins of the respective parties in the opposing sides of the language divide: the PN's origins were in irredentism, its own leadership ex- iled to Uganda during WWII due to fascist sympathies, while La- bour was born in the British-run dockyard where knowledge of English was indispen- sable. International football itself was heavily politicised with England beating Italy in the gruesome 'battle of Highbury' in 1934, billed as the "real World Cup final" be- cause England had not participated in the World Cup tournament that Italy had just won. On that occasion Benito Mussolini had reportedly offered each Italian play- er an Alfa Romeo if they beat the English, mirroring the Italian dictator's aspirations to supplant Britain as the master of the Mediterranean. But irredentism was dealt a fatal blow in World War II and under Mintoff Labour became more assertive in confronting British colonial authorities. His national- ism lacked the cultural dimension of pre- WWII politics. Instead, it was utilitarian, so much that in 1956, 77% of referendum voters voted for Malta to be integrated into the UK. Nationalist voters boycotted the plebiscite in opposition to integration, and Mintoff's ant-colonial belligerence ended up driving the British middle-class to the PN.