The Italians are very strong defensively. They showed in Euro 2000 how good defensively they are.

We got stuffed 4-1, but it was just great to play against, it was like an education. You think you are half good and then you go and play against a side like that!

At the outset of the creation of the euro in 1999, it was expected that the southern eurozone economies would behave like those in the north; the Italians would behave like Germans. They didn't. Instead, northern Europe fell into subsidizing southern Europe's excess consumption, that is, its current account deficits.

Italians make you laugh and break your heart.

We have worked around the passionate way that Italians approach all things, good and bad ? the way they drive, the way they eat and the way they dress. We will have a very energetic show. There will be a lot of speed. Italians love speed.

I don't care how small the parts are, as long as they're good.