"I want people to talk about the football and say, 'there was that team that Newcastle had and we loved going to watch them play, it was exciting and they always had it go'", says Newcastle Jets head coach Arthur Papas.
There are so many similarities between Papas and Australian trailblazer Ange Postecoglou, who is now embarking on his journey as manager of Scottish giants Celtic.
Postecoglou has an unrelenting belief in his philosophy, with an emphasis on a high-octane style of attacking football. Papas is no different.
That entertaining football delivered Yokohama F.Marinos their first J1 League crown in 15 years in 2019. Papas was Postecoglou's assistant during two highly successful seasons in Japan.
After almost 10 years and priceless journeys across India, Saudi Arabia and Japan, Papas is back in Australia and in the Hunter Valley, this time as coach of Jets.
Papas – who spent less than a year as an assistant with the Jets in 2011-12 – is Down Under to be closer to family, having been appointed head coach of J3 League outfit Kagoshima United in December.
The 41-year-old is now tasked with restoring the glory days to McDonald Jones Stadium, where the 2008 A-League champions have fallen on tough times.
Newcastle have missed the finals for the past three seasons, finishing seventh in 2019, eighth in 2020 and 11th in the 12-team competition last season.
"We're all aiming for success," Papas told Stats Perform. "I'm not in this just to get into the finals. That's not enough, the bar isn't low. There's no ceiling with what I want to achieve with this club. There shouldn't be. Anyone who puts a ceiling on it straight away has basically cancelled any ambition of where you could go.
"But, the main thing is I want people to talk about the football and say 'there was that team that Newcastle had and we loved going to watch them play, it was exciting and always had it go and okay, didn't get it right every time', but they could resonate with our football and they don't forget that. If we're able to achieve that, we would have done something special. Normally, if you have achieved that, you also would've got pretty close to being quite successful in terms of results."
Papas added: "You can be in a club where you're playing exciting football, but there's nothing better than having that in front of 10-15,000 people. The difference is in this league, you can also have teams that could do that but not attract that support. For me, the big reason is the supporters of the club because I know when this place gets it right, it's one of the most difficult places to come in the A-League, the strongest support and genuinely get behind the team.
"They've had some lean years but that's why the challenge is so great. You don’t want to be doing it in front of an empty stadium. It's going to generate momentum for us. It's going to take a bit of time because the football I like to play doesn't happen overnight, but it's going to happen because I'm so clear in how I work and the vision I have for how to build teams and play a certain brand of football. Then the idea is we're all connected and doing it together, including the whole region."
Since reaching the 2018 A-League Grand Final, the Jets have a 30 per cent winning percentage in the competition – Central Coast Mariners (25 per cent) are the only team with a lower win rate than Newcastle across the last three seasons.
The Jets have had an expected goals (xG) per game value of 1.6, the sixth-most of any team in the last three seasons; however they have scored 33 goals fewer than their xG suggests they should have – by far the largest negative difference of any team in the competition in that time.
"It's a really interesting job in terms of A-League context," Papas said. "Maybe every five or six years there's a good year and then it really falls away. There's so many reasons for that I'm sure. There's been constant talk about the ownership model, which hasn't created the stability that the club and region deserve.
"It's the kind of thing that I normally do, put myself in really difficult situations and relish those challenges. I believe we can do something special there."
Newcastle have won only 19 points from losing positions in the last three seasons of the A-League – the joint-fewest of any team among those to have participated in all three campaigns (Macarthur FC - 10pts).
The Mariners (92) and Jets (96) are the only teams to have participated in each of the last three A-League seasons but scored fewer than 100 goals across them.
Former boss Carl Robinson (60 per cent) – now in charge of Western Sydney Wanderers – is the only man to have won at least one third of his games as manager of the Jets across the last three A-League seasons.
But Papas has already set out to rebuild the Jets, luring Cameron Devlin, eight-time Australia international Matthew Jurman, Dane Ingham and Mohamed Al-Taay to the club, while boosting his staff with the arrivals of Arthur Diles, Huss Skenderovic and Riccardo Marchioli.
"It always has to be aligned to the vision I have for how we want to play and behave," Papas said. "No disrespect to anything been happening there, it's more about when you come in, you need as many people on the bus as possible to move in the same direction. I don't really compromise any part of how I see football being played, to be successful and winning teams. It's more identifying characters and kind of characteristics to play that type of football.
"The main thing is we need certain physical and technical profiles and certain characters. I know it sounds a bit cliché but after you speak to different people, I'm confident we've done some good business so far."
"The main part for me is we have a certain culture within the staff and competency to deliver a world-class program, that is really the goal," he continued. "To deliver an environment and program that players come and all they think about is today I'm going to get better and how am I going to get better and our staff are driving that daily. I feel, amongst improving players, I have a greater job than that and it's about how do we align the staff and improve those areas to make sure players come in and know they're coming into a special environment. We will create that because I have experiences now, I've seen it first-hand at the best levels in Asia under one of the best managers in the world and that's added layers to my coaching I'm sure. I'm constantly trying to grow and improve, which I've done from day one."
Papas is relying heavily on data to shape his team and turn the Jets into title contenders, adding: "It's part of the story for me and how we work. We utilised it extremely well in Japan. It depends on resources also. I'm not big on using data for data.
"I've developed a model over time that is specific to giving us ideas on what makes our game tick or not. We can use some of that to quantify what's happening but at the end of the day, it's not going to give you a total picture. It just gives you a framework. It's an evidence-based research in essence. It's very difficult for managers to do this because we get caught up in the emotions of that result on Saturday and that result evidently defines us but doesn't always show a true reflection of what's really happening.
"We've won games at times where I thought we weren't really where we needed to be and our data didn't actually stack up in terms of what we define as a game where we were strong across all areas. Other games, you lose and can't work out how you lost because you have a certain about of ball possession, expected goals … what do you do with these situations as well? I have certain data which I consistently refer to, whether it's physical or technical, that gives me a clear reflection of if we're on track or not."
Papas, who brings vast experience to the Jets and the A-League, returns to Australia at a time when calls for a national second division grow louder.
Beyond the A-League, Australian football currently relies on clubs in eight separate National Premier Leagues (NPL) as part of a mainly semi-professional second tier.
The Association of Australian Football Clubs (AAFC) has already detailed their plans for a national second division amid hopes it could be introduced by the end of 2022.
As nations across Asia continue to invest and improve, Papas – who has coached India's Under-23 team, Pailan Arrows, Dempo and worked as an assistant for Saudi side Ettifaq FC and NorthEast United – said: "In terms of resources, I don't think we're competing at all.
"I've had some interesting stuff come to me over this period of coming back to Australia. I was working in J3 for example and people weren't sure if that was even full-time or not. I was a bit surprised by the naivety of that question because I had 11 full-time staff around me. The office has 30-plus people working around the clock. The resources available you can't even imagine and that goes all the way down to their academy systems. The important thing is you need to know what's happening out there. Between Saudi Arabia, Japan and the Indian Super League, they're all ranked in the top-eight leagues in Asia right now and I've been through all of them.
"I've got to see so many parts of why Asia is progressing and I think we're still progressing at our own speed. The difference is the speed of it, are we progressing at the same speed at some of the other countries? Are we able to resource our leagues and academies at the same level? We have huge difficulties in establishing a second division as an example. In Japan, they have over 50 full-time professional clubs, so the opportunities are so much more available for young players. The problem is here, when you're not at a professional level, the drop is too big and it doesn't compare. Over time, it just makes the gap wider and wider. That is why it's important to think about creating a second division because it will create opportunities. Not only opportunities for players but for staff, administrators, coaches. Our ecosystem keeps growing and growing, and that's when you're finding people are climbing up the chain.
"Unfortunately there's just not enough opportunities and that's what prompted a lot of my choices in terms of my career. It's no disrespect to the NPLs etc, but it's so far away from what happens and professional level. The longer you stay at that level, the harder it is to think you can just jump to the next level."
Luka Doncic posted a triple-double to lead Slovenia to their first Olympics berth in men's basketball as European nations claimed the final four spots in the Tokyo 2020 field.
Dallas Mavericks star Doncic had 31 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds as Slovenia defeated hosts Lithuania 96-85 in Kaunas on Sunday.
In other qualifying tournament finals, Italy stunned Serbia 102-95, Germany defeated Brazil 75-64 and the Czech Republic downed Greece 97-72.
With those countries headed to Tokyo later this month, the field is now set.
Group A will consist of defending champions the United States, France, Iran and the Czech Republic, with Australia, Nigeria, Germany and Italy in Group B.
In Group C, hosts Japan will contend with Argentina, Spain and Slovenia.
Doncic and Slovenia face a difficult group, as Spain won the bronze medal at Rio 2016 after a close loss to the USA in the semi-finals, but the 22-year-old was ecstatic after qualifying.
"I don't care about the MVP," Doncic said. "We won here. We're going to the Olympics, the first time in our country.
"It's amazing. I think every kid dreams about being in the Olympics. I did too. So, here we are. We fought really, really hard, and I think we deserve to be here."
Italy's defeat of short-handed Serbia, who were missing NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, was the biggest upset of the final qualifying round.
Serbia were beaten finalists against Team USA in the Rio 2016 gold medal game, while Italy are in the Olympics for the first time since taking silver in Athens in 2004.
Shohei Ohtani has chalked up yet another first in his historic 2021 season, as the Los Angeles Angels star is the first player ever to be named to the MLB All-Star Game as a position player and a pitcher.
Already named as the American League's starting designated hitter earlier this week, Ohtani was named to the AL's pitching staff on Sunday as the full rosters for the July 13 game in Denver were unveiled.
The 26-year-old from Japan leads MLB with 31 home runs and is 3-1 with a 3.60 ERA in 12 starts on the mound, with 83 strikeouts in 60 innings.
Ohtani is also set to feature in the Home Run Derby the night before the All-Star Game, guaranteeing he will be the biggest attraction of the festivities at Coors Field.
While Ohtani figures to be the star of the show, the Boston Red Sox will have the most representatives, with designated hitter J.D. Martinez, starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and relief pitcher Matt Barnes making the AL squad along with starting shortstop Xander Bogaerts and third baseman Rafael Devers.
The Houston Astros will send four players to the game, with infield reserves Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa joining outfield reserve Michael Brantley and reliever Ryan Pressly.
The Toronto Blue Jays also will have four players in the game, as shortstop Bo Bichette joins AL starting first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., second baseman Marcus Semien and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez.
On the National League side, the San Diego Padres also have four representatives, as pitcher Yu Darvish made the team along with reliever Mark Melancon and infielder Jake Cronenworth to join starting shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr.
Three injured players were selected for the game and will be replaced on their teams' rosters: Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Shane Bieber and outfielders Mike Trout of the Angels and Kyle Schwarber of the Washington Nationals.
2021 All-Star Game rosters
American League
Elected starters:
C: Salvador Perez (Kansas City Royals)
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto Blue Jays)
2B: Marcus Semien (Toronto Blue Jays)
3B: Rafael Devers (Boston Red Sox)
SS: Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox)
OF: Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels)
OF: Aaron Judge (New York Yankees)
OF: Teoscar Hernandez (Toronto Blue Jays)
DH: Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels)
Starting pitchers:
Ohtani
Shane Bieber (Cleveland Indians)
Gerrit Cole (New York Yankees)
Nathan Eovaldi (Boston Red Sox)
Kyle Gibson (Texas Rangers)
Yusei Kikuchi (Seattle Mariners)
Lance Lynn (Chicago White Sox)
Carlos Rodón (Chicago White Sox)
Relievers:
Matt Barnes (Boston Red Sox)
Aroldis Chapman (New York Yankees)
Liam Hendriks (Chicago White Sox)
Ryan Pressly (Houston Astros)
Gregory Soto (Detroit Tigers)
Reserve infield:
Mike Zunino (Tampa Bay Rays)
Jose Altuve (Houston Astros)
Bo Bichette (Toronto Blue Jays)
Carlos Correa (Houston Astros)
Matt Olson (Oakland Athletics)
José Ramírez (Cleveland Indians)
Jared Walsh (Los Angeles Angels)
Designated hitter:
J.D. Martinez (BOS)
Nelson Cruz (MIN)
Reserve outfield:
Michael Brantley (Houston Astros)
Joey Gallo (Texas Rangers)
Adolis García (Texas Rangers)
Cedric Mullins (Baltimore Orioles)
National League
Elected starters:
C: Buster Posey (San Francisco Giants)
1B: Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves)
2B: Adam Frazier (Pittsburgh Pirates)
3B: Nolan Arenado (St Louis Cardinals)
SS: Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres)
OF: Ronald Acuna Jr. (Atlanta Braves)
OF: Nick Castellanos (Cincinnati Reds)
OF: Jesse Winker (Cincinnati Reds)
Reserve infield:
J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia Phillies)
Ozzie Albies (Atlanta Braves)
Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs)
Brandon Crawford (San Francisco Giants)
Jake Cronenworth (San Diego Padres)
Eduardo Escobar (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Max Muncy (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Trea Turner (Washington Nationals)
Reserve outfield:
Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Bryan Reynolds (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Kyle Schwarber (Washington Nationals)
Juan Soto (Washington Nationals)
Chris Taylor (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Starting pitchers:
Corbin Burnes (Milwaukee Brewers)
Yu Darvish (San Diego Padres)
Jacob deGrom (New York Mets)
Kevin Gausman (San Francisco Giants)
Germán Márquez (Colorado Rockies)
Trevor Rogers (Miami Marlins)
Zack Wheeler (Philadelphia Phillies)
Brandon Woodruff (Milwaukee Brewers)
Relievers:
Josh Hader (Milwaukee Brewers)
Craig Kimbrel (Chicago Cubs)
Mark Melancon (San Diego Padres)
Alex Reyes (St Louis Cardinals)
Brazil head coach Tite will attempt an historic result on Monday as his side face Peru in the Copa America semi-finals.
The defending champions battled into the last four after beating Chile 1-0 despite playing almost all of the second half with 10 men following Gabriel Jesus' red card for an awful high challenge.
They have now gone 12 games in all competitions without defeat, keeping a clean sheet in nine of those, while Tite is yet to lose a match in this competition while in charge of the Selecao.
Should they reach the final this time around, the 60-year-old will equal Mario Zagallo as the Brazil coach with the longest unbeaten run in Copa America history (12 games).
Standing in the hosts' way are a Peru side who came through a thrilling quarter-final against Paraguay, which ended 3-3 after extra time and with each side down to 10 men.
In the end, Miguel Trauco's sudden-death penalty secured Peru's place in the semi-finals for the fourth time in five tournaments.
Head coach Ricardo Gareca has only managed to beat Brazil twice in 10 attempts, with their previous meeting in the 2021 group stage ending in a 4-0 win for the five-time world champions.
Brazil have also not lost a Copa America match on home soil since 1975 – but that 3-1 defeat came at the hands of Peru in the semi-final first leg of their triumphant campaign.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Brazil – Lucas Paqueta
Lyon midfielder Lucas Paqueta needed less than a minute on the pitch as a half-time substitute before scoring what proved to be the winner against Chile.
With Jesus suspended and Roberto Firmino not wholly convincing at these finals, Paqueta may well have a key role to play here.
Peru – Yoshimar Yotun
With a goal, an assist and a converted spot-kick in the shoot-out, few Peru players did as much to drag them into the final four as Yoshimar Yotun.
The Cruz Azul midfielder is a versatile asset at the heart of the side and could be equally important in disrupting Brazil's rhythm and getting Peru up the pitch when possible.
KEY OPTA FACTS
- Brazil will host Peru for 20th time in competitive games (W15 D2 L2). One of those defeats was in the 1975 Copa America, the last time Brazil lost a game at home in the competition (3-1).
- Tite has never lost a game in the Copa America (W8 D3). If Brazil reach the final, Tite will equal Mario Zagallo as the Selecao boss with the longest unbeaten run in the competition's history (P12 W10 D2).
- Ricardo Gareca will face Brazil for the 10th time (W2 L7), and the sixth in this competition (W1 L4). Peru are unbeaten in their past 12 Copa America games when Brazil were not their opponents (W6 D6).
- Brazil are the top-scoring team in this year's finals (11), eight of their goals coming in the second half and five in the last 15 minutes, each more than any other team in the competition.
- Peru are the team with the fewest shots on target among the semi-finalists (18), but they are second for shot conversion rate (16.3 per cent).
Jose Mourinho has spoken highly of Luke Shaw's performances at Euro 2020 following his standout display in England's win over Ukraine.
The Manchester United left-back was voted as the Three Lions' man of the match in a fan poll after providing two assists in the 4-0 quarter-final victory in Rome.
Shaw appears to have cemented his place as Gareth Southgate's first-choice left-back at these finals, a fitting reward for an impressive season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at United.
The former Southampton man has enjoyed arguably the strongest 18 months of his career, a far cry from a difficult spell when Mourinho was in charge at Old Trafford, when the Portuguese would often single out Shaw for criticism.
Mourinho took aim at Shaw again after England's group-stage win over the Czech Republic, claiming his delivery from corners was "dramatically bad". That prompted a response from the player, who accused his old boss of having a "strange" personal agenda, adding: "Clearly, I'm in his head."
However, Mourinho appeared far more impressed with Shaw's display in the Italian capital on Saturday, saying the form of England's defenders means Southgate should resist any temptation to revert to a back three for the semi-final against Denmark.
"The question is, do England need to play with a back three like they did against Germany? My view is no," he told talkSPORT.
"The back four is really, really solid. Luke Shaw is playing better and better and better. Kyle Walker is having an amazing tournament.
"The two centre-backs are very solid and the back four with the amazing Euros that both central midfielders are doing is more than enough to control Denmark offensively. Then, you have four players to decide the creativity of the game. It is there that Gareth may have some doubts.
"Walker, [Harry] Maguire, [John] Stones and Shaw is clear. [Kalvin] Phillips and [Declan] Rice is clear. [Raheem] Sterling and [Harry] Kane is clear and there are two places that in my opinion are open and two positions where the options are different.
"[Jadon] Sancho played well, [Phil] Foden started the tournament, the same with [Mason] Mount, while [Jack] Grealish looks like he's not the favourite player of Gareth but, every minute he's on the pitch, he does well. There are lots of options for these two places.
"I believe playing at Wembley, England will be solid as always but you have to try and win the match as soon as they can and I don't believe that they need to play with a back three like they did against Germany."
Shericka Jackson picked up from where she left off at Jamaica’s national championships a week ago and Tajay Gayle equalled his season-best in the long jump at Sunday’s Stockholm Diamond League meet where Kirani James raced to victory in the 400m.
The 2019 World Championships 400m bronze medalist, who shocked her fans with lifetime bests of 10.77 and 21.82 at her national championships a week ago, ran an impressive 22.10 to win the 200m ahead of Marie Josee Ta Lou, who delivered a season-best 22.36.
Namibia’s Beatrice Masilingi was third in 22.65, a season-best time and national record.
Earlier, in one of the fastest races run this season, Natoya Goule ran close to her 800m lifetime best of 1:56.15 when she finished second to Cuba’s Rose Mary Almanza in the two-lap event.
The diminutive Jamaican clocked a season-best 1:56.44 after chasing the Cuban, who set a new meet record and a brand new personal best of 1:56.28.
Kate Grace ran 1:57.36 for third.
It was a similar story in the men’s 400m where Grenada’s Kirani James and Trinidad’s Leon Lendore engaged in a scrap with 50m to go before James found enough to hold on for victory in 44.63. Lendore ran a season-best 44.73 for second place.
Leimarvin Bonevacia of the Netherlands was also closing fast but ran out of real estate to finish third in 44.80, a season-best.
Gayle equalled his season-best of 8.55m which was aided by a trailing wind of 2.2m/s that saw him emerge the victor in the long jump. Cuba’s long-jump sensation Juan Miguel Echevarria jumped 8.29m for second place.
Thomas Montler was third. The Swede jumped a personal best leap of 8.23m.
Alisson dos Santos further established himself as one of the best 400m hurdlers in the world this year when he ran 47.33 to win in a new lifetime best and area record, eclipsing the record he set in Oslo on July 1 when Karsten Warholm set a new world record of 46.70.
Turkey’s Yasmani Coppello ran a season-best 48.19 for second place. Jamaica’s Kemar Mowatt also ran a season-best 48.75 for third.
The women’s event was a classic as the Netherlands’ Femke Bol and the USA’s Shamier Little raced stride for stride to the line with the former just managing to cross first in a new lifetime best of 52.37. The time was also a Diamond League record, national record and meet record.
Little ran a lifetime best of 52.39 in the race where the first three across the line in under 53 seconds as Anna Rhyzhykova clocked a personal best and national record of 52.96.
Jamaica’s Janieve Russell ran 54.08 for fourth while Leah Nugent was sixth in 55.01.
When Jadon Sancho slalomed past Serhiy Sydorchuk and Andriy Yarmolenko in Rome, those who remember him as a boy in the football cages of south London would have barely batted an eyelid.
Yet it was a joyous piece of skill from the England winger, who will join Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund once Euro 2020 finishes, and reflected his growing confidence at international level.
The Ukraine pair strained to prevent him dancing through midfield, and it eventually took a cynical foul from Yarmolenko to halt the winger's charge.
Sancho, now 21, was raised in the Kennington district south of the Thames, where cage football has been a breeding ground for bright, young English talent, players who have to be nimble-footed and daring with their skills in confined spaces.
It was reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane as Sancho body-swerved this way and that in evading the Ukraine tackles.
"I've never changed," said Sancho on Sunday. "In the cages it was all about nutmegging, badding people up, and taking them on.
"When I've had a one-v-one situation, I've always tried to do the things I used to do in the cages and kind of perfect it when I've been in training.
"There could be like a situation where there's three men around you and you do a mad skill to pull free. It definitely does work, the cage skills, the tight skills and things like that."
In England's 4-0 thumping of Ukraine, Sancho attempted seven dribbles, three more than any other England player.
He completed four of those, which was also a team high, bringing a fresh dimension to the team.
Sancho also made three penalty area entries, beaten only in that regard by Mason Mount's four, and had a passing accuracy of 92.9 per cent.
The former Watford and Manchester City youngster could have done little more to press his case for inclusion later in the tournament too, starting with Wednesday's semi-final against Denmark at Wembley.
Speaking on England's Lions' Den YouTube show, Sancho spoke of his satisfaction at reaching the highest levels of the game by representing his country.
"It's something I've been dreaming of as a kid, especially putting on the shirt for my family. It's really a big honour for me," he said.
"I class myself as lucky, and to be representing England in a major tournament is a dream come true really and I'm just thankful for every opportunity I get."
Cesar Azpilicueta says Spain must keep Lorenzo Insigne and Jorginho quiet if they are to overcome Italy in Tuesday's Euro 2020 semi-final.
Italy head into the showdown at Wembley as the most in-form side in Europe after going 32 matches without defeat and winning the last 13 of those.
The Azzurri saw off Turkey, Switzerland and Wales to top Group A, before beating Austria in extra time and Belgium inside 90 minutes, in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively.
Forward Insigne started four of those five games, the exception being the final group match against Wales, while Jorginho has been an ever-present for Roberto Mancini's side.
Jorginho has completed the most passes (364) of any midfielder at Euro 2020 so far and is fourth in the list in terms of passes in the opposition half with 249, behind Koke (269), Toni Kroos (271) and Pedri (305).
He is a player Azpilicueta is familiar with, the pair having helped Chelsea to Champions League glory last season, and the defender knows the importance of shackling his club-mate.
"We have a chat set up with all the Chelsea players, but it will be good to see him on the pitch on Tuesday," Azpilicueta told Sky Sport Italia.
"This is football. Sometimes you play against your team-mates when representing your national side. We will both give it our all to helps our teams reach the final.
"He is of course a great player both for Chelsea and Italy. It is important we limit his involvement. He likes to have the ball and control the game. He is a very intelligent player.
"The better we are at keeping him quiet, the more chance we have of controlling the game."
While Jorginho has provided an assured presence in the engine room for a much-fancied Italy side, Insigne has been receiving plenty of plaudits for his performances up top.
The Napoli forward was on target for Italy in their opening match and curled in one of the goals of the tournament in the 2-1 win over Belgium in Friday's quarter-final.
He has been involved in 13 goals in his last 15 games for Italy in all competitions – six goals and seven assists – and netted 19 goals in 35 Serie A appearances last season.
"He is not someone I know personally, but on the pitch he is very dangerous," Azpilicueta added. "He is a great player, very technical and fast.
"He always looks to work a one-on-one and is constantly communicating with his team-mates. We will have to defend as a team and attack as a team. We are aware of the strength of Italy's attackers."
Spain's performances have not been as consistent as Italy's, having drawn their opening two group matches before advancing in second place with a 5-0 win over Slovakia.
La Roja then held off Croatia 5-3 after extra time, becoming the first side in European Championship history to score five or more goals in consecutive games, and penalties were required to overcome Switzerland last time out.
However, Italy have beaten Spain only twice in their last 15 meetings in all competitions and lost 4-0 when the sides met in the Euro 2012 final in Kiev.
Azpilicueta has started Spain's last three games and is focusing on the positives ahead of Tuesday's clash in London.
"We did not start well in terms of results, but on the field we have always managed to dominate and control matches," he said.
Toto Wolff believes assessments of Mercedes' season to date have been overly negative, even as Max Verstappen and Red Bull have control of the title race.
The Silver Arrows had Valtteri Bottas second and defending champion Lewis Hamilton fourth at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Hamilton is now five races without a win for only third time over a single season since 2014. Red Bull have won all five of those, with Verstappen triumphing in four.
Damage to his car apparently sustained over a kerb at Turn 10 saw Hamilton fall behind both team-mate Bottas and third-placed McLaren man Lando Norris.
But Wolff, despite describing himself as "a sceptical person, cup is half empty rather than half full", tried to look at the positives.
"First of all, the result looked worse than it was in terms of pace," he told Sky Sports. "We were stuck behind the McLaren.
"In terms of pace, we probably could have been there, maybe not enough to win the race but right there, which is a step forward.
"The damage occurred at Turn 10, over the kerb; I don't think he was particularly running too hard over the kerb – it was just the part that fell away.
"We looked at the loads and they were the same as in the laps before, so we need to find out why that happened.
"So, overall, damage limitation? Maybe. I think we're going to go to Silverstone, blow everybody away, finish one-two, 30 seconds in advance of everyone else."
He added: "We're one DNF away from being right there in the constructors' and in the drivers' championship, so this is far from over."
This was not the result Hamilton – still two victories shy of a landmark 100 – would have wanted to celebrate his new two-year contract.
But Wolff said: "The morale is good, but we have to be working on these feelings actively.
"If you come from a run of seven world championship titles, everything looks like a defeat, whatever result you have. I think this is a switch in mindset we have to achieve now.
"Today we finished second and fourth, it's not the end of the world. You see how happy the McLaren guys are about their position [P3] and I think we have to just recognise this is a tough, tough championship.
"This is the Formula One world championship and you can't expect every year to cruise away in the sunset.
"We will make everything that's needed to not make Red Bull do exactly that."
Perhaps Hamilton himself could use a more optimistic outlook, rueing "a lot of damage" despite insisting he "wasn't going over the kerb any more than anyone else".
"There were a lot of points lost today," Hamilton said, adding: "I would have been second. I was in second when all of a sudden it obviously broke.
"It would have been an easy second generally, but obviously not able to catch up with the guys ahead."
A home race for the seven-time champion at Silverstone is up next, but Hamilton said: "We're miles away from [Red Bull], so we've got a lot of work to do.
"We need all hands on deck, which I know there already are. They brought a lot of upgrades, clearly, over these last few races, and we haven't brought any.
"We've got to find as much performance as possible, otherwise this will be the result most often."
England's third ODI series clash with Sri Lanka was abandoned on Sunday after torrential rain in Bristol.
The match was initially suspended in the 34th over of Sri Lanka's innings due to rain, although play resumed after a delay of almost 40 minutes.
Dasun Shanaka hit an unbeaten 48 as the visitors posted 166 all out.
England, hoping to seal a 3-0 series win, never had the chance to respond, though, the match abandoned after relentless rain for around 90 minutes following Sri Lanka's innings.
England are next in action on Thursday in the first ODI against Pakistan in Cardiff, while Sri Lanka start their own ODI series against India on July 13.
Max Verstappen relished being able to deliver another win at the Red Bull Ring in front of his 'orange army' in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.
The Formula One drivers' championship leader secured a third straight victory and second at Spielberg in two weeks.
As at the Styrian GP, Verstappen led from start to finish having taken pole position on Saturday.
The Dutchman now has two poles, four wins, six podiums and 139 points at the Red Bull Ring, reserving his best returns at any circuit for Red Bull's home race.
"It was incredible, to be honest," Verstappen said. "The car was unreal, every tyre set we put on was really enjoyable to drive.
"It's pretty insane. I'm a bit amazed myself how it went – I didn't expect it to be like this.
"Incredible job by everyone to deliver something like this. Of course, when you go into the weekend, everyone sees you as the favourite, but it's never easy to actually always deliver what we did.
"It's a great effort by the whole team and also by Honda, I think the whole package...
"These two weeks, especially here, it's been incredible."
Verstappen had the support of a large, loud crowd, dressed in orange and cheering their man home.
"It was insane to see all the fans here," he added. "There's so much orange, it's incredible. A great motivation as well.
"Especially the last lap, there was a lot of orange all over the track. Thank you very much for coming."
Lando Norris, who recovered from a controversial five-second penalty, also earned encouragement from the fans, though, finishing third ahead of Verstappen's title rival Lewis Hamilton.
His run of 14 straight races in the points is the best of his career and the best ongoing streak in F1.
"It was a lot of fun," Norris said, before giving his take on the incident involving Sergio Perez. "It was a good race, exciting, but I'm disappointed because it should have been second place.
"I thought lap one was just racing really – he tried to go around the outside of me, which was a bit stupid. He ran off the track himself, I didn't even push him. I don't know.
"I was frustrated, but I'm also happy with P3. We had very good pace and I'm happy."
Valtteri Bottas clung to second in front of Norris, but the Briton was confident his McLaren could tussle with the best.
"I could keep up with him a lot, even in the dirty air – just not enough to get into the DRS," he said. "As soon as I got close to within one second, I started struggling too much.
"Shoulda, woulda, coulda, in the end.
"It's nice to know that we could be there and we could race them. It's probably the first race in many years I'm actually racing the Mercedes and the Red Bulls.
"Hopefully we can keep it up next time."
Spain greats Xavi and Andres Iniesta are inspirational figures for Italy's Nicolo Barella, although the Azzurri midfielder does not try to replicate their skill sets.
Barcelona legends Xavi and Iniesta formed a key part of the Spain side that won Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 – in which they thrashed Italy in the final – either side of lifting the 2010 World Cup.
While the Barca duo were more renowned for their creativity than goalscoring exploits, albeit Iniesta got the crucial strike in Spain's World Cup triumph in South Africa, Barella has established himself as a real goal threat for both Inter and Italy.
Indeed, the former Cagliari man opened the scoring in Italy's 2-1 quarter-final win over Belgium with a fantastic finish, teed up by some excellent footwork.
And while Barella is inspired by the Spain greats of the past, he finds it hard to compare his own game with theirs.
"They had great champions who inspired everyone, like Xavi and Iniesta," Barella told a news conference.
"It's easy to say that we were inspired, but all those who love football are. I have different characteristics, seeing me in them is difficult.
"The Spain side that won the Euros in 2012 had an incredible midfield. There were amazing champions there, here there are great players, but we hope we can reach their level and possibly do even better."
Italy inflicted a 2-0 defeat in the last 16 of Euro 2016 to gain revenge for their 4-0 loss in Kyiv nine years ago, and a final against either England or Denmark is the prize for the victor at Wembley on Tuesday.
"[Sergio] Busquets has been one of the best midfielders in the world for many years," Barella continued.
"Then they have Pedri and Koke. It will be a nice game, we'll try to beat their midfield and beat Spain.
"It will be a tough game, we are similar as we both want to dominate the possession. I hope it will be a nice game, we want to enjoy it in a fantastic stadium."
Italy did suffer a blow in the win over Belgium, with influential left-back Leonardo Spinazzola suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon.
"It was strange not to celebrate because one of my team-mates had suffered a serious injury," Barella said when asked about Spinazzola, who has travelled to Finland for surgery.
"It was the first time I didn't celebrate a win at the end of the game, all we can do is to make Spinazzola proud and celebrate for him."
Only three defenders – Andrew Robertson (nine), David Alaba (10) and Jordi Alba (11) – have created more chances than Spinazzola (eight) so far at Euro 2020, though Barella is confident that Chelsea's Emerson, who is set to replace the stricken Roma full-back, will prove an able deputy.
"Emerson and Spina have different characteristics, they are two great players and nobody is worried," he said.
"[Emerson] won the Champions League and he will help us as he's always done. He's played many games for us and we all trust him."
Max Verstappen eased to yet another victory at the Red Bull Ring in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, completing a triumphant triple-header in front of home support.
The Red Bull superstar and Formula One season leader won for the third week running to stretch his drivers' championship advantage to 32 points over Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen had become the first F1 driver to win three times at this circuit in the previous week's Styrian Grand Prix and led from start to finish again after claiming pole.
Hamilton's hopes of reeling in Verstappen – dismissed as "out of the question" after qualifying – were hindered by another fine drive from Lando Norris, with the Mercedes great starting where he finished in fourth.
Valtteri Bottas was the big mover, up from fifth to second, benefiting from keeping clear of controversy as numerous drivers – notably including Norris and Sergio Perez – tangled in costly fashion.
Verstappen displayed his superior straight-line speed from the outset to disappear into the distance, only to find his early progress checked by Esteban Ocon's crash that prompted a safety car.
The Dutchman – backed by swathes of orange-clad supporters – pulled clear again from the restart but team-mate Perez had more difficulty as he doggedly pursued Norris.
Norris' determination forced Perez off the track in an incident that was subsequently investigated.
Even Red Bull team principal Christian Horner dismissed the clash as "one of those things", but a five-second penalty for Norris was confirmed just as Hamilton passed him, having been held up for 20 laps – already around 10 seconds shy of Verstappen.
Perez's attempts to recover from his early setback saw the Mexican twice earn five-second penalties of his own for nudging Charles Leclerc out of his path.
However, Norris regained his composure in far more impressive fashion, serving his penalty and falling behind Bottas but then attacking Hamilton, getting ahead of the seven-time champion amid Mercedes tyre trouble for a third podium of the year.
MAX MAKING MOST OF HOME COMFORTS
Verstappen now has four wins, six podiums and 139 points at the Red Bull Ring, his best returns at any circuit.
Saturday's pole had seen him make Spielberg – Red Bull's home grand prix – the first track at which he has qualified first twice, following on from last week's effort.
Five victories and four poles have made this is his best season to date, but Verstappen has bigger fish to fry with the title in his sights.
UNLUCKY LANDO STILL THE BREAKOUT STAR
It was hard not to feel for Norris, who so bravely battled against Hamilton and then learned of his penalty for essentially holding his line.
Informed of the punishment, he first replied: "What for?"
Norris added: "What did the guy expect running around the outside?"
Regardless, he had built enough of a buffer to only fall to fourth and recovered to make the podium, meaning the McLaren man has now collected points in 14 consecutive races – his longest streak and the best ongoing run in the series.
Fernando Alonso, in the first 14 races of 2007, was the last McLaren driver to enjoy such a stretch of points returns.
IN THE POINTS
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) +17.973s
3. Lando Norris (McLaren) +20.019s
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +46.452s
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +57.144s
6. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +57.915s
7. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) +60.395s
8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +61.195s
9. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) +61.844s
10. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +1 lap
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 182
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 150
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 104
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 101
5. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 92
Constructors
1. Red Bull – 286
2. Mercedes – 242
3. McLaren – 141
4. Ferrari – 122
5. AlphaTauri – 48
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
