“11 sweaty hunks kicking a ball…”
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However, a question arises spontaneously in the minds of those who do not look at this world with our own eyes: “Is all this fuss about eleven men running after a ball normal?” My answer, full of pride, is Yes definitely. Because this is the true essence, not only of “fútbol”, as some would call it, but of sport in general. Like an indestructible bubble in which, as explained by the good old “Nino”, the worries of real life fly away, carried by the wind of passion that inevitably triumphs. And so we are ready, all standing with an interminable shiver that runs through our spine to wait for the series finale. May 4, 2023: after an unexploited first match point against the Salerno cousins, we take to the pitch Udine. The starting eleven that evening is one of those you will remember until your last breath: Alex in goal Mereta name added by Treccani among the synonyms of the word “rebirth”. To defend the penalty area, the insurmountable wall erected by the captain, Giovanni By Lorenzo, Kim Min-jae, Amir Rrahmani and Mathias Olivera. In midfield the right mix of madness and tactical intelligence formed by André-Frank Zambo AnguissaStanislav Lobotka and Tanguy Ndombele. In front of Eljif’s uncontainable fury ElmasVictor James Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Anxiety is the reigning feeling among the visiting fans, fueled by Sandi’s right-footed shot under the crossbar Lovric at 13′ of the first half of the game. Then, to the 52 minute, like a bolt from the blue, the Nigerian with the number 9 takes care of chasing away the ghosts of a stormy past that appears overcome in the radiant present. The last seconds of the match are an interminable agony, which melts like snow in the sun at the final whistle of the referee, for the occasion Rosario Abyss.
“It’s 10.37pm. Napoli are Italian champions for the third time in their history.” It’s the victory of one people, of those who have never stopped seeing the light even in the darkest darkness. It is the victory of those who watch from above, as the divine entity to which the Fuorigrotta stadium is named, who, like at the World Cup in Mexico in ’86, once again put his hand into it. It is the victory of the eternal seconds, like the man on the bench, Luciano Spalletti, the brilliant mind behind a masterpiece Without precedents. A man who has taken a reality similar to his own by the hand, loser by naturechoosing to challenge a Fateadverse like few others, in a titanic attitude that would make even the most pessimistic Alfieri enviouscoming out with the Scudetto sewn on his chest. It’s May 4, 2023 and Naples, 33 years after the last time, is in the Olympus of the greats.“I thought I was dying and I couldn’t see this morning…“. And instead I lived it. And who can forget…
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May 4, 2024 (modified May 4, 2024 | 10:41)
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