On 29 June 2000, Francesco Totti did his best Vincent Van Gogh impression and showed the inventors of Total Football that you can also paint with your feet: his dink from the penalty spot beat all 197 centimetres of Edwin van der Sar and helped Italy progress to the European Championship final. 19 years later, Italy are set to face the Netherlands again, but this time it’s the women’s sides who will do battle. It’s a game where another piece of history could be written: a win would see the Azzurre qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup for the very first time – a feat that was almost unimaginable at the start of the competition and one which would also probably open the doors to the Tokyo Olympic Games, with the best three European teams in the tournament securing a spot there.

The Stade du Hainaut in Valenciennes, which already played host to the Azzurre’s games against Australia and Brazil and is sold out for the occasion (FIFA President Infantino, FIGC President Gravina and Director General Brunelli are all set to attend), will also be the arena for Italy’s clash with the Netherlands at 15:00 CEST tomorrow. It’s a match-up where Sarina Wiegman’s side, who are the current European champions, will start as the bookies’ favourites. So far, the team ranked eighth in the world have won all their games here in France: group-stage wins against New Zealand (1-0), Cameroon (3-1) and Canada (2-1) were followed by a 2-1 success against Japan at the round of 16 stage, a match decided by a Lieke Martens brace. Martens isn’t fully fit and a serious doubt for tomorrow’s showdown.

The Barcelona forward is one of the stars of the Dutch National Team. So is Vivianne Miedema, who netted the two goals in Verona in November 2014 that forced Italy to wave goodbye to their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup in Canada. “The perfect performance will be needed,” said Milena Bertolini in her pre-match press conference. “We need to make sure that we make as few mistakes as possible and are able to dig in. We also need to be pragmatic and increase our concentration levels. Irrespective of whether Martens plays or not, all the Dutch players are strong. I always have faith in these girls – they are demonstrating what they’re about. We know that we’ll be facing a very strong side, but this is to be expected given that we’re in the quarter-finals of a World Cup.”

The temperature is expected to exceed 30 degrees in Valenciennes tomorrow, while there will no doubt be a fiery atmosphere with huge numbers of Oranje fans present: “It’s a bit strange that this match is being played at three in the afternoon,” Bertolini continued. “It would have made better sense to allow it to be played at nine in the evening. The heat will impact both teams, it’s especially disappointing that the spectacle might well be affected. There will be a lot of Italians in the stands. The Netherlands will have more, but this isn’t surprising: they’ve got more than 100,000 registered members and a strong bond was created between the fans and team as they won the European Championship. I think that we’ll be there in fewer numbers than them but, as is always the case, we’ll make ourselves heard. It’s true that knowing a lot of people are watching comes with a bit of pressure, but it also greatly helps the girls. I believe it makes them even more proud of what they are achieving.”

After a day of rest yesterday, the team finished off their preparations this morning. This also involved practising penalty kicks: “The girls had a whole day off to recharge their batteries, both physically and mentally. They’re tired, but my staff are well-prepared and competent – for two months, they have been working in such a way so as to ensure the girls remain in good condition and recover as best they can.” Just like Italy, the Oranje look to play with purpose: “If we both manage to pass the ball well, it’ll be a great game,” said the Head Coach.

Out of the eight teams who have made it to the quarter-finals, five (Italy, the Netherlands, France, Sweden and the USA) are coached by women. “I think it’s really great that there are more women coaches now compared to other World Cups, they have a lot of qualities and are making a great contribution to the women’s football movement.”

As usual, sitting next to Bertolini was Sara Gama, one of the four players just one booking away from suspension (Bartoli, Cernoia and Girelli are the others): “We’ll be playing against great forwards who show imagination and are quick. Miedema is only 22 and is a complete player. We need to think about ourselves and concentrate on playing our own game.”

For the Azzurre captain, the hot weather in Valenciennes won’t be used as an excuse: “We got used to the heat in Montpellier, we’ve had a break-in period.” And the team have also got used to the support being displayed by the fans: “The crowd is an asset to us. When you hear and feel all this support, you just want to give something back and not disappoint. Fans are coming here from Italy on various coaches. We haven’t got many supporters in France, but those who are here are making a right racket.”