I can feel it. The vibe. The buzz. The karma. The excitement. The totally universal acceptance (as long as your ‘universe’ is bounded by the English Channel, the North Sea, Hadrian’s Wall and the Forth Bridge) that destiny favours… Harry Kane. And Gareth Southgate. It’s in the air, its all around and its totally different to what they’re feeling this morning in Rome, Turin, Milan and all those foreign places ‘over there’. Totally different. Even though Italians may not think so.

I’m getting ‘match prepared’. I haven’t eaten pizza all week. Not one. Not even a small pepperoni with extra cheese, jalapeños and avocado (gotta have something green otherwise you die). No pasta. Not one drop of Prosecco or one grate of Parmesan. And I won’t use olive oil unless it comes from somewhere like North Korea or Syria.

And I’ve got my ‘kit’ ready. England shirt, obviously, face paint (red and white only) awaiting. My lucky socks, which I wore when my school team beat Dagenham Comprehensive 3-1 to avoid relegation to the Sarf-west Essix 9th division (east) in 1973. I have my football boots from 1975 still covered in lucky mud from Hackney Marshes. And then I opened up the safe and removed, wrapped in their sealed plastic protective coveringS… the underpants I wore for both legs (and ON both legs) of the 1981 FA Cup Final when Spurs beat Man City!!! Never washed, obviously, you need as much concentrated ‘goodness’ as you can get with lucky clothing.

Because football is not just about kicking a ball around. It’s not about ‘form’ and its not about ‘England have never beaten Italy in a knockout match’. That’s all completely irrelevant. When compared both to the wearing of my lucky underpants and the mindset of the players on the pitch. Because England have never lost a major final at Wembley. Italy have never won a game that Joey’s watched. It’s about today, tonight, and what happens at eight o’clock.

The stars feel aligned to me. I have faith in Gareth and both his teams. The few who play football and the much bigger team of physiotherapists, psychotherapists, counsellors, faith healers, voodoo perveyors and yoga gurus. That’s who really wins games.

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!

A xxxx