Deep in the Amazon, England confronted their biggest fears head on and with purpose. Yet the two players who England had obsessed over most pre-match were the ones who did most to damage them.
Mario Balotelli, that unpredictable and magnetic big-game presence who could yet return to the Premier League this summer, nodded the winner five minutes into the second half.
And when he did so it was his captain, Andrea Pirlo, who was among the first to him with congratulations but also whispered instructions in his ear.
It is the debonair, bearded visage of Pirlo that has loomed largest ever since Italy and England were drawn together in Manaus in December.
In fact, ever since the 35-year-old conductor prompted, probed and then Panenka’d Italy to victory over England in Kiev in perhaps the most one sided 0-0 draw ever it is as though he has had a hex over Hodgson’s men.
The Juventus player has become more than an obsession. Roy Hodgson and his players have been ceaselessly asked about him and how they would nullify his influence.
The statistics became a mantra. England had 25% possession to Italy’s 75%. Pirlo made more passes on his own than Hodgson’s entire midfield quartet. And so on.
By the hour mark it was the Italian fans who were making their voices heard, with loud “olés” as the match settled down into the slower paced encounter that had been expected beforehand.
It is the little things that make a big difference. Early on, with Italy under some pressure, Pirlo played a short pass without looking on the edge of his own box that instantly switched defence into attack. He was constantly aware, endlessly available, turning his head this way and that and drifting into space.
The team briefings that Gary Neville had been giving the squad in Rio might as well have been named Operation Stop Pirlo. It was surely a factor that weighed heavy in Hodgson’s chosen formation and personnel.
Sometimes Jordan Henderson would press on to pick him up, other times it fell to Steven Gerrard, other times Danny Welbeck. No matter, Pirlo completed 96% of his 69 first-half passes entirely in his own time.
Mostly Pirlo did what Pirlo does – meandering across the pitch, combining with Marco Verratti and Daniele de Rossi, keeping Italy ticking over then changing the direction of play in an instant. Every ball is the right weight. No effort is wasted.
Pirlo nominally started on the left in Prandelli’s preferred 4-3-2-1 formation. The two teams were expected to prod and probe. It didn’t quite work out that way, as they swept from end to end and traded blows like heavyweight boxers in the early stages.
It was only when the ball reached Pirlo that time seemed to stand still, with the 35-year-old playing to perfection the quarterback role that his opposite number, Steven Gerrard, has latterly tried to perfect himself. A big Woody Allen fan, Pirlo is the star in his own movie and he slowly turned the screw on England.
When Italy’s opener came, it was Pirlo’s sublime dummy from Verratti’s cross that allowed Claudio Marchisio the time and space to fire a low shot into the corner from the edge of the box.
But this England team is made of sterner stuff and there was something very un-Italian about the way they allowed their opponents straight back into the game with Daniel Sturridge’s goal. Indeed, they looked potentially vulnerable at the back ever time England counter-attacked throughout an eventful first period.
This a different England team, set up in a different way with pace and purpose and this was certainly no rerun of the Kiev runaround.
Pirlo is also two years older and it is true that his influence waned in the second half as the air and legs got heavier. Yet it is also his very presence that pushes Cesare Prandelli’s unpredictable side forward. Antonio Candreva, one of Italy’s stand-out performers, and his other midfield team-mates were urged on by his ceaseless urging and prompting.
Pirlo loves Italy and they love him. Prandelli calls Pirlo “a player who belongs to everyone” and his public feel it. When the captain’s name was read out before kick-off, he got by far the biggest cheer from the larger than expected contingent of Azzurri fans inside the Arena Amazônia.
It was his face the cameras zoomed in on as the teams lined up to come out on to the sweltering Manaus pitch. Despite his ageing legs, he stayed centre stage throughout.
