TV Review - Friday 18th June - Italy v Sweden

It's ITV. It starts with England, which gives the lie to Des' opening point to Sir Bobby, "we're looking forward to this game almost more than all the others", Robson going on to praise how Ibrahimovic can "play football". Always helpful, you feel. "Italy have yet to win" announces Jon Champion, like they've played eight games. Memories of Ivan Zamorano in 1998 are brought up by the mike catching Rino Gattuso belting out the Italian anthem. "With apologies to Francesco Totti, this promises to be a rare old spat" - thinks he's clever now, does he?
"I always feel sorry for Italian centre backs, the way they're so bullied, Jim" after Beglin had referred to their instruction to keep it tight would suggest so, his reaction to the goal - "the brightest young thing in the firmament of Italian football lights the flame under their challenge" - even more so. Do we think he really came up with that off his own back? We fear so. "I told you you'd see some class tonight, and you are" is Des' less than reassuring verdict, as it's been the sort of night Barry and co were complaining about the one-sidedness of the previous night. At half time we get Brian Kilcline dressed as a carrot in a Fantasy Football trailer, which under the circumstances seems right. Jon's still trying it on - "Zambrotta getting foward - like that old international who played for Liverpool at right back, remember him?" Francesco Totti appears to be getting a lot of cutaways sitting alongside his lovely female partner (ah, that'll be it) as a "galaxy" of Swedish attacks come to nought until... "OH, IT'S CREPT IN!" OK, Jon, the mike's right in front of you. "That could earn Sweden a place in the quarter-finals, and that could earn Ibrahimovic a lucrative move to Italy!" Yeah, as long as he knows what's important. Great goal, though, and one Jon oddly doesn't notice the provenance of until the replay - how does he think it went in with Ibrahimovic and Buffon face to face, then? "I'm thinking of France-England again" says Jim with five minutes left. "Do stay with us for our version of Fantasy Football" Jon illogically trails, before commenting of Italy "they're like a nasty bit of mud on your shoe that you can't shake off. It was mud, wasn't it?" "It was dog dirt" Jim corrects, ruining the gag, such as it was. There's lots of shouting off-camera while an unnamed, unrecognisable man tries to interview Henrik Larsson, Bobby criticises Ibrahimovic's "head work", and as a no doubt pleasing to many final clip from a game surely analysed in every minute detail over the last five days, we get two replays of Zidane being sick while preparing for the penalty, Des attempting to distance himself from the clip as far as possible ("it seems we had to show it" apparently) ITV - good taste all round.