I watched Italia '90 with my Mum and Dad and my brother, you know, leaping around the house when the penalties were on... It would be great to be part of that, to have that kind of impact.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I just wanted to get back to playing attacking football after my time in Italy. It was a little difficult at first but the atmosphere and the fans were just fantastic.
Italians are great improvisers. If something unforeseen happens, they throw up their hands, and they adjust.
I remember the first time I went to Italy when I was eighteen, I was in Florence and there were all these eighteen, nineteen, twenty-year-olds gliding past on Vespas with crinkly, long, hair, and I thought I was on the set of a movie. I couldn't believe that this was going on and I hadn't known about it before. I was flabbergasted.
It was my proudest moment as a manager when England drew 0-0 with Italy in Rome to qualify for the World Cup finals. Fifteen years later, the stakes are equally high for both countries as they go head-to-head for a semi-final place at the European Championship.
The lucky thing was that I was Italian; when the other Italians saw me fight back, they came to my defence.
From Italy, I'd get calls from cousins and aunts saying, 'I don't think you should act. It's really tough. What are the chances?' This was around the time 'Flashdance' came out, and I was like, 'What about your dreams? I'm a maniac.'
I had a very exciting life in Italy, and I was doing lots of variety shows.
I went to see England against Switzerland at Wembley with my dad and brother, too. That was in 2008, Fabio Capello's first game in charge. Jermaine Jenas scored, and we won 2-1. I remember the national anthem was incredible. I sang it with pride - always do.
I remember watching the Three Tenors at the World Cup in 1990, and it was amazing. They made opera accessible to the man in the street.
I remember playing football dressed in peculiar costumes with some friends in France and laughing so hard we couldn't even stand up, let alone kick the ball.