Italy national team to train at Tottenham Hotspur ahead of EURO final

England are getting set to compete for their first major tournament win since 1966 when they play in the finals of EURO 2020 at Wembley Stadium tomorrow. But while they will train and prepare at St. George’s Park National Football Centre, their opponents, Italy, will be training at Harry Kane’s club home.

As reported in the Standard, Italy’s national team will train and stay at Tottenham Hotspur’s training centre and lodge, Hotspur Way, ahead of tomorrow’s final. The Italian squad will arrive sometime Saturday, will use Spurs’ facilities to do final training, and will overnight at the new Spurs Lodge, with top of the line accommodations that Spurs use during the club season and that Tottenham rents out for use by other teams and organizations.

A foreign national team using Tottenham’s training facilities ahead of a performance isn’t anything unusual — it’s one reason it was constructed. Denmark was based at Hotspur Way ahead of the EURO semi-finals, and the USA Women’s National Team notably was stationed there ahead of the 2019 World Cup. In fact, the very first lodgers at the facility was the Brazil national team just before the 2018 World Cup.

Ironically, the Standard also reports that Italy used The Hive in Edgware, Barnet’s home ground, as their training area ahead of the semi-final against Spain. The Hive is also the home to Tottenham Hotspur Women, which means Italy will be using the facilities of both Spurs squads in the final stages of the tournament. No offence to Barnet... but Hotspur Way is going to be a huge step up in quality — Spurs’ facilities are considered one of, if not the, best in Europe.