EX-IRELAND INTERNATIONAL David Meyler is The42′s football columnist for this season.
Each week, the former Hull City and Sunderland midfielder will give expert insight and his predictions ahead of the biggest action, alongside the latest William Hill prices.
In his latest column, Meyler looks ahead to the Euro 2020 semi-finals at Wembley Stadium as Italy face Spain on Tuesday before England take on the Danes the following evening.
Italy v Spain, 8pm Tuesday
My boys Italy march on to the last four of Euro 2020 and that’s now 13 consecutive wins and 32 games unbeaten for Roberto Mancini’s men.
I thought the Azzurri were really good against Belgium on Friday night. They didn’t give their opponents a moment’s peace, the way they pressed them.
It was the result I predicted. Many of Belgium’s golden generation are getting on and although there’s still an array of attacking talent, they just came up short at the back.
Like all great Italian teams, the current one is built on a strong defence and the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Leonardo Spinazzola, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini have all been brilliant.
The balance they have in midfield with Marco Verratti and Jorginho is great and it allows Nicolo Barella to get forward and join in on the attacks, as he did for the opening goal.
Italian sides of the past would usually have a number 10 in the mould of Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero or Francesco Totti but that is not really the case this year. Lorenzo Insigne is the closest thing to that they have, and the little Napoli man likes to come in off the left.
Running from inside his own half before unleashing a curling effort past Thibaut Courtois, his emphatic finish against the Belgians was worthy of winning any game.
Spinazzola has been ruled out after suffering a ruptured achilles and he will be a massive loss as the 28-year-old must be in contention for Team of the Tournament. He has been outstanding, not just in his defending but also in the way he attacks.
He has a great understanding with Insigne, who drifts inside to create that space for Spinazzola to bomb up and down the wing.
Fans of Italian football and Serie A will have been well aware of the Roma full-back, but for the rest of us he was relatively unknown coming into the tournament but I wouldn’t be surprised if the bigger European clubs look at him once he recovers.
Mancini has used 25 of his 26 players and there appears to be real unity in his squad.
Their next opponents, Spain, represent a different proposition in that they will want to dictate possession.
Luis Enrique’s team have lacked ruthlessness in front of goal at times, which is a strange thing to say when you consider they scored five goals in each of two games leading up to Friday’s meeting with Switzerland.
On Friday, they didn’t really look like they were going to score and you just don’t know which Spanish side is going to turn up.
Italy have only conceded two goals so far and if Spain do get chances they will have to take them.
Alvaro Morata looks set to come up against his Juventus team-mates in Bonucci and Chiellini. They are masters of the dark arts and you would imagine they will be kicking, nudging and pinching him for the full 90 minutes to try to put him off.
I believe Italy will do enough to progress to the final, so I’m going with 1-0.
England v Denmark, 8pm Wednesday
England recorded a fifth clean sheet in this competition on Saturday night, meaning they are the only team yet to concede a goal.
In doing so, Jordan Pickford equalled Iker Casillas’ record of clean sheets at a European Championships from 2012.
Their results have been based on a solid defence with John Stones, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Kyle Walker all excelling.
Against Ukraine, England also came alive at the other end — scoring four unanswered goals in Rome. Just as did for Manchester United last season, Shaw looked a real threat in attack and provided two assists.
You can’t deny that they were given a favourable draw, but everything is clicking for Gareth Southgate’s side and he deserves huge credit as they are peaking at the right time.
He stuck with Harry Kane despite a dip in form and his trust was rewarded with two goals, which brings the England captain’s tally to three.
With Cristiano Ronaldo (5), Patrik Schick (4), Romelu Lukaku (4), Karim Benzema (4) and Emile Forsberg (4) all out, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go on to win top goalscorer.
As an Irishman, I am extremely jealous of how many quality players England have coming through right now. Just look at Jude Bellingham, who looks like a man-mountain at 18.
If it doesn’t turn out to be this tournament, I can see them winning one over the next few years. That said, I wouldn’t completely rule Denmark out of this tie as they are a very decent team.
We all know about the situation with Christian Eriksen and he is the kind of player they could really do with in this game. He is their talisman and their creative spark, and he wouldn’t be fazed by the occasion or the opposing players.
The Danes have a togetherness and there is clearly a camaraderie across the squad, strengthened by the events of last month. Many of them ply their trade in English football so facing England at Wembley in the semi-final of a European Championship will be massive.
This will be a tough game but I expect England to come through it. I’ll say 2-0 and Kane to grab a brace.
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