When crowds first flocked to see Euro 2022 action at the Amex, we did not know quite what to expect.

Okay, we knew the stadium would look fantastic – although just a little different.

We knew it would be noisy and lively but not quite to what extent.

We suspected England would be decent, although their opening 1-0 win over Austria had not been hugely convincing.

And we suspected Norway would give them a good game – possibly even interrupt their winning start.

Expectation? Probably for a fun night, a good occasion, something a bit different.

A chance to involve people who don’t usually go to games, including children, 8pm kick-off not withstanding.

There were hopes of an England win, that would be nice.

But maybe not too much emotional investment at that early stage.

Things have moved on in nine days since then.

A fabulous performance and an 8-0 win on a night which will take some beating have seen to that.

Now, after the sideshow of Friday when Austria beat Norway, comes the main event at Brighton in this tournament.

England v Spain in the quarter-finals.

By the way, Friday was not bad either.

We saw a fine performance by Austria, some late drama and both celebration and despair at the end.

And a crowd of nearly 13,000 at the stadium.

That was essentially a knockout match.

Tonight we have the real thing, with the potential for extra-time and penalties.

The atmosphere will be cranked up a little more than last Monday.

There may well be considerably more tension in the air. And pressure, maybe?

England boss Sarina Wiegman told reporters: “You talk about pressure all the time and we talk about football.

“We are just trying to play football at our best and use our strengths to exploit the weaknesses of the opponent.

“Yes, we know it’s the knockout stage but that’s the same for the opponent. It’s exciting.

“We want to work as hard as we can and hopefully we will become successful.

“It’s another game. We always talk about expectations but we have done that early on in the preparations.

“It is the same structure for every game.”

Demand for tickets for this game has been high, as it was for England v Norway.

Travel arrangements are different to Premier League games, so too is the make-up of the crowd.

It has been non-stop party time pretty much at the Amex and St Mary’s in the last two England games.

True, Norway were perhaps the better team for a few minutes early on, but the opening penalty turned the tide.

Spain, even without Alexia Putellas and Jennifer Hermoso, will be a tougher test.

Wiegman said: “There are a couple of teams who are the favourites and I don’t think that has changed a lot over the group stages.

“We have seen the games are a high level and there are more teams who can win the Euros.

“Spain miss two key players but of course they are still a very good team.

“We know our plan, we know our strengths and we also know there are more favourites to win.

“We have a game against Spain so we don’t have anything yet.

“They are a very good team, we are a very good team too so we want to play the best game we can and hopefully that will give us the win.

“I do expect the game that they have played all the time.

“They will probably have the ball a lot, too, but I hope we do.

“That’s okay in certain moments but we are pretty comfortable on the ball so I’m excited to see how it will go.”

Former Albion striker Alessia Russo has scored three times in the last two England games, coming off the bench.

The expectation is she will remain as a sub – but one who can clearly make a powerful impact.

Whether Wiegman is also on the sidelines remains to be seen.

She missed the Northern Ireland game after testing positive for Covid and has supervised training from a distance.

Speaking remotely to a virtual press conference, she said: “During our preparation which started last year we always said we didn’t know how things would develop. We are being aware, very careful but it is very invisible.

“We are trying to stay in our bubble and do the right things. When there is a positive result we have to be agile and creative and do the work with the ones who are fit.

“We’re on this journey and we want to do everything to be successful so we had to take action so yes, we did more strict measurements.

“Of course you hope it doesn’t happen but we have experienced Covid for the last few years. It is not totally new but we know what we have to do.

“We must go on with the ones who can play and continue what we’re doing which is now preparing for Spain and trying to play the best game again.”

“It’s all about trying to use our strengths and trying to exploit their weaknesses. We know there are spaces, they have such an attacking style of play so we are absolutely aware of that.”