The Italians are deluding themselves about the English

Not content with winning Euro 2020, many Italians have spent the days since the final engaged in a febrile orgy of moral supremacy. Italians are not just much better than the English at football, you see (which is fair enough, although they did only win on penalties), but many Italians are insisting, even more excitedly, that the Italians are much better people than the English.

To which I, as a Brexiteer expat Briton who has lived amongst Italians for donkey’s years, have this to say:

Si calmino, signori, si calmino! (Calm down dears!).

The English football team have been branded as bad losers and cheats; their supporters have been labelled as rude, arrogant, hypocritical, violent, drunken thugs and racists. There is much talk in Italy of the death of English fair play and of the demise of the English gentleman.

Regardless of the truth, this is the dominant narrative being pumped out by the Italian media and on social media about England and the English.