Euro 2020: Luis Enrique hoping to see more Spain, Italy fans in semis

Spanish men’s national team coach Luis Enrique is hoping that in the Euro 2020 semifinal encounter between Spain and Italy there will be more fans of the two teams at the Wembley stadium, rather than England fans. However, his wishes aren’t likely to be fulfilled given the “strange” quarantine situation in the country.

A crowd of 60,000 will be permitted for both the semi-finals and the final at the home of English football as coronavirus restrictions are eased in the UK.

However, England will have an added advantage in both the semi-final against Denmark and the grand finale as travelling supporters will be required to quarantine, which would mean the last moment travellers will have to give both the fixtures a miss.

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“It is a strange situation. I hope that tomorrow there are Spanish and Italians more than English fans, but they are things we cannot control,” said Luis Enrique on Monday, according to AFP inputs.

Enrique lamented that he would not waste any more energy on it and accepts the regulations, even though he hoped things would be “different”.

The Spanish Football Federation even sent out a plea to English fans to support their side with a social media campaign titled: “We need you!”

However, an exemption has been made for only 2,500 VIPs after an agreement was reached between UEFA and the British government.

Meanwhile, Spain will be faced with incredible opposition when they square off against Italy, who have stormed into the last four on the back of a 32-game unbeaten run stretching back to 2018.

By contrast, Spain have won just one of their five games at Euro 2020 in 90 minutes as they needed extra time to see off Croatia in the last 16 and penalties to get past Switzerland in the quarter-finals.

For the former Barcelona boss, the fixture holds a lot of nostalgic value as he has plenty of history with Italy as a player and coach.

His nose was splattered by a vicious elbow from Mauro Tassotti as Italy won a contentious World Cup quarter-final 2-1 in 1994.

Seventeen years later his senior coaching career began in Serie A with Roma, where he lasted only one season.

But he insisted he has no hard feelings towards the Azzurri.

“It’s so many years ago now, I think my nose looks better,” he added on the Tassotti incident.

“I have been able to speak to Mauro Tassotti three or four times over the years and I always found an honest and good person.

“It is part of the past, our football history, both of us wish it could have been different. I have great memories of my time in Italy, this is a great match in the semi-finals and the rest is left in history,” he added.