THEY say that competition winners tend to be the team who gather momentum throughout the tournament. In which case, pencil in Italy for the title because no side that starts as slowly as the Azzurri did yesterday could possibly fail to pick up the pace.
They also say that Francesco Totti is the golden boy of Serie A, that he is here at Euro 2004 to dazzle and delight and establish his claim to a place among the world-class greats. In which case, Totti has a considerable way to go, too.
Sure, we saw that he could do special things with the ball, we saw glimpses of brilliance, and we can take away in particular the turn and pass with which he released Alessandro Del Piero in the second half, using the spin on the ball to slow it up perfectly to put his team-mate in with the best chance of the match.
But Totti came here singing his own song. He said that it was redemption time, that his horrors at the World Cup were to be amended. He was sent off for diving in the knockout stages against South Korea and returned home with his reputation sullied. Here in Portugal, he said, we would see the real Totti.
The real Totti was anonymous in the first half, unless you count the decision to change his boots as one that particularly affected the match. He became stronger in the second half, but he only showed us what he could be, he didn’t exhibit what he wanted to be. He certainly would not have had Italy’s small band of fans going away saying all is forgiven.
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As for redemption, the word belonged solely to Thomas Sorensen, the Denmark goalkeeper. The previous time that we saw the Aston Villa player on the international stage, it was in Japan in a World Cup second-round match when he presented England with an invitation to attend the quarter-finals. He let an Emile Heskey shot go under him and somehow managed to bundle a Rio Ferdinand header into his own net.
As unforgettable days go, that was surely one that he has been unable to erase from his memory. Yesterday, though, can only have helped.
Fast-forward to the 44th minute — and, yes, it was that long before Italy really tested him — and he pulled off a magnificent double save. First a shot from Del Piero from 12 yards out, well struck, to Sorensen’s right and requiring two hands to stop, the velocity such that he could only push it away. Then, before Sorensen could regain his feet, Totti had turned, spun and shot from even closer range. This time it seemed the goal was unavoidable, yet Sorensen retained balance and composure enough to stretch out his right arm and palm it away one-handed.
Sorensen was by no means done, the acrobatic efforts required to keep his clean sheet not yet complete. In the 57th minute, a header from Christian Vieri was soaring goalwards and Sorensen had to leap to punch it over the bar. And then, in the 77th minute, when Totti was lining up the free kick that would have given him the Zinedine Zidane game- turning moment of the match, Sorensen dived right and low to keep it out.
A last cameo after the final whistle. Totti marched off hotly towards the tunnel, refusing even to acknowledge the hand that Thomas Helveg offered him. Sorensen, meanwhile, went straight down to the huge swaths of Danish fans and started conducting their joyful chanting.
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We will surely hear more of Totti in this tournament but yesterday was Sorensen’s redemption song.