Chances are, though, you've never heard of him. If told at all, Mack Robinson's story is usually only a footnote to those of two others. He was the older brother of Jackie Robinson, who went on to change baseball forever by becoming the first black player to play outside the Negro Leagues. But that he missed out on a legacy of his own was down to one of the most iconic of all American sportsmen.

The Olympic record he equalled that day had been set by Jesse Owens 24 hours previously. But Robinson never actually got to stand as the record holder because even as he was equalling it, Owens was breaking it again and picking up the second of his four gold medals at those games. The 21.1 seconds Robinson ran was pipped by the 20.7 seconds of Owens and was worth only a silver medal.

Imagine. Less than half a second. He'd have passed into history. He'd have been mentioned every time Owens' name came up, the more so once his brother became the biggest name in baseball. But immortality eluded him in less time than it takes to lift your finger from this newspaper and touch your nose.

The last time these two countries met in a major tournament, the margins were almost as minuscule. Had Alessandro Del Piero finished either of the chances he had to kill off the Euro 2000 final, the France team of the turn of the millennium wouldn't have the reputation they do. As it was, he missed them both and it fell to David Trezeguet to nail down France's place in history. Take it that neither side will go into tonight needing to hear Mack Robinson's story to be reminded how little second place means.

Italy shade the favouritism stakes for a few reasons. Their weakest link is up front where Luca Toni hasn't convinced at all in the tournament but they make up for that by having the widest range of scorers among all the teams. Ten Italians have scored in this World Cup; Brazil and Argentina come closest to matching that with seven each. Since you ask, only four French players have registered.

Italy's is a game based on possession in midfield being ten-tenths of the law. Statistics from the Germany game are revealing. Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso passed the ball to each other 27 times, almost three times as many as any other two players on the pitch. Pirlo led both the passes made and received categories with Gattuso second in both and the rest nowhere.

The stats show as well that while less than 50 per cent of their passes were sent forward, their accuracy was virtually flawless. Evidence of a patient game and a confident one. Why hoosh the thing forward when you can hold onto it until one of your full-backs makes a run out wide to take it off you?

Gianluca Zambrotta and Fabio Grosso have been key to their attacks, more so at times even than midfielders Mauro Camoranesi and Simone Perotta. Between the four of them, width is provided . . . if not necessarily pace. In