Good morning everybody. It's match day and there's no point in not fronting up. I'm in a car heading for Central London looking for Central London looking for my day five testing release.

It's gray, it's wet, perfect weather for football.

I think and I hope that Wembley's pitch is going to be fast, firm,

better than anything Spain have played on so far, but I'll only be able to tell you about that when I get there this afternoon

ahead of duties that look

Interesting to say the least

But I've been at semi-final days before. This reminds me of the tension and there is a knot in the stomach. You're not going to kick a ball, you can't influence the result,

but you have to feel the endorphins, you have to feel the butterflies,

or at least I believe that, Otherwise you eat doing it right.

With Spain the first time I felt this was in I guess Vienna having checked sorry about that where they were playing a

rematch against Russia in 2008 remember the first group game was against Russia in

Innsbruck a fabulous little stadium tucked underneath the mountains

whereby not all the stands tribunes were joined there was extra seating put in so it had this not ramshackle but

slightly mechanical feel to it but picturesque boy it was absolutely sensational. You saw the planes flying into Innsbruck Airport through the big

gaps between the mainstand and the stand behind the goal. There were plenty of Russians there. Most of them seem to have arrived in

Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rose Royces, the car park outside that stadium was utterly nuts.

It was a night where after the 401 win,

which was really keenly disputed. It was a real punch and counter punch match where Spain excelled. They were absolutely brilliant and I ended up in the wine bar next to the grower bear in his book where myself and Ian Gav Jackson

Holyman met Jockin' Borkland who kicked us off in this series with his preview of Sweden Spain and Patrick Anderson a good night

was had anyway I diverged a little bit because the semi-finals against Russia

again who's Hidink, smart coach.

He coached Madrid, he knew the Spanish culture.

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