The whole of Italy is behind Milena Bertolini’s side, a passion that is once again reflected by the huge numbers that tuned in to watch as the Azzurre qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup. The match against China yesterday afternoon, which was shown live on Rai 1 and Sky Sport Mondiali, was watched by 4,579,000 viewers, a record audience share of 35.67%. This eclipsed the share that followed the game against Brazil (32.8%). On Rai 1, 3,963,000 viewers tuned in, and this moved up to a peak of 4.7 million (31.4%) in the second half.

The enthusiasm for the team has also reached France: upon returning to the hotel yesterday evening, the team were welcomed by about 200 people who chanted ‘Milena offrici da bere’ (‘Milena, offer us a drink’) in the Head Coach’s direction. She duly obliged as bottles of white wine were opened and a glass was raised with the fans.

The team are now set to travel to Valenciennes, where they faced Australia and Brazil during the group stage. At 15:00 CEST on Saturday, they will play the Netherlands in the last eight. The Dutch, who are current European champions and eighth in the FIFA ranking, made it through to the quarters after beating Japan 2-1 thanks to two goals from Lieke Martens, the second of which was a penalty in added time. They finished top of their group with maximum points following wins over New Zealand (1-0), Cameroon (3-1) and Canada (2-1).

Italy, who are also looking to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo (the best three European teams will earn a spot there), will have the opportunity to gain revenge for their World Cup qualification playoff defeat in November 2014, when the Netherlands won 2-1 in the return fixture at the Stadio Bentegodi in Verona following a 1-1 draw in the first leg.