The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Thursday, June 17

Hey, everyone!

Let’s continue this unplanned journey in Hoddles about the Euros.

Ramble of the Day

It seems nice being Roberto Mancini. Why? He’s in charge of an Italy team enjoying a terrific start to the European Championship, and he’s also a contender for the most stylish manager of the tournament.

Mancini has a pretty significant advantage, compared to his counterparts — Emporio Armani has opted to provide Italy with formalwear this year, and has clearly picked out some great pieces for the team. Mancini is the biggest beneficiary of this partnership because he wears the clothes most often, but his players do get to wear some Armani, too.

The outfit is inspired by Enzo Bearzot, the manager of Italy’s World Cup winning team in 1982. It’s not uncommon for Armani to get into sports — they regularly make the opening and closing ceremony outfits for Italy’s Olympic team.

Designer goods aren’t inherently more stylish than other clothes, but this is a pretty good use of resources from Armani. It’s another case of an advantageous partnership on both ends in sport — it’s nice to receive personalized designer clothing, and Armani accesses a slightly different audience with some built-in models and influencers. (Somewhat related reading: Internet entrepreneur and Angel City co-founder Alexis Ohanian wrote a Twitter thread arguing this meeting point of fashion and sport will only grow, particularly in women’s sports.)

tl;dr: Italy is competing for the Euros’ most stylish team, thanks to Emporio Armani.

Stay informed, read this: Shireen Ahmed on sports’ power to make meaningful societal change for The Walrus

Links of the Day

Austria’s Marko Arnautović received a one match ban for insulting the Albanian roots of a North Macedonian opponent.

Anti-discrimination group Fare sent a report to UEFA about a homophobic banner spotted at Hungary-Portugal.

Sergio Ramos will leave Real Madrid on a free, ending his 16 year spell at the club.

Belgium will pay tribute to Denmark’s Christian Eriksen by kicking the ball out of play in the 10th minute of today’s match to start a minute of applause.

A longer read: Grant Wahl on the death of an Azerbaijani journalist shortly after criticizing a footballer and the country’s anti-media culture for Sports Illustrated