Gareth Southgate told a lovely story on Friday about the toll exacted on him by managing at a big summer tournament.
Southgate, a most measured man, is always careful to keep his role and that of his team in proper perspective, especially during times that have been so truly dreadful for many over the last 18 months. He is always reluctant to use the word 'pressure' for example.
Nevertheless his job as England manager is important and demanding in its own right so when he was asked before leaving for Rome on Friday if he had managed to get any down-time during Euro 2020, he smiled.
Gareth Southgate and his England side face are looking to make history this summer at Euros
'I haven't found that possible in these last four weeks,' he said. 'The time I give myself I do exercise, so I run or use the gym. There have been a couple of afternoons where I've been able to get an hour's kip to catch up.
'The tournaments are so intense. I can be in meetings at eight in the morning or finishing analysis at 11 at night. It is just the nature of it and I know there will be a period in a couple of weeks where my family will see me asleep a lot because that's what happened after Russia and the World Cup.
'They were taking all sorts of ridiculing pictures of me in various venues for a few weeks on holiday. I was basically just falling asleep everywhere so it became a standing joke really.'
Images of Southgate deep in slumber in deckchairs, cars, planes and hotel lobbies immediately came to mind. But the familial ribbing can wait. The England boss and his players have another job to do on Saturday night in the Stadio Olimpico. And hopefully two more after that. There is a week of this tournament to run and it's time for one final push.
'We all enjoyed the Germany game,' said defender Harry Maguire on Friday. 'The whole day — or call it an event — was an incredible feeling for us all. But the morning after we recovered and the evening after we had a meeting and we spoke about it.
'The message was, "Right, it's time to prepare and focus on another tough game on Saturday". We know the threats that Ukraine bring. They are a tough team, a good team with great principles.'
The Three Lions boss plans to sleep a lot after the tournament - and that can wait with something special in the offing
The World Cup in Russia took a heavy toll on him and he finds major tournaments 'intense'
The truth is that Ukraine are not a particularly great team, not by the standards of the last eight of a major tournament. They finished third in their group,
