The soundtracks of Notti Magiche and the lights of mobile phones are the backdrop to the parade of stars that restores the souls of the nostalgic at the Arechi stadium. Entire families, delirious fathers and children in tow, filled the stands (to the point of overbooking, amidst inconvenience). Baggio was introduced by Children, a song that kept nineties kids company. Then the inevitable “Marmellata numero 25” by Cesare Cremonini invited the supporters to sing “since Baggio no longer plays”. The final in Pasadena, played in ’94, is now thirty years away but in the Distinti the banner that stops time appears: “Only those who have the courage to take penalties miss penalties. Roby, Salerno loves you”. Then on the pitch Totti’s no-look touches and Trezeguet’s strike immediately broke the deadlock.
The curiosity
Endless queues at the entrance gates, an entertainment village organized outside the stadium, the shirts that set the tone and trend in the Nineties, not just the predictable ones Totti and Baggio, but also of Asprilla, Cigarini, Ribéry at the time of Fiorentina, Cassano and Enynnaya, Possanzini. Everyone had and has their own idol. At the Arechi stadium, on the occasion of Operation Nostalgia, everything came back to light. He wasn’t invited, but for the Granata fans… his name is Giovanni Pisano “and he always scores”. The scene was all for Totti and Baggio, the most awaited. When the historic Roma captain said goodbye to football, he chose the youngest captain of the Giallorossi youth sector. He symbolically entrusted the armband to him, as in a generational transition.
The scenery
At the stadium, the champions enter the pitch hand in hand with the kids from the Primavera football school. Tango and Supersantos are the nostalgic names assigned to the teams that took to the pitch yesterday at the Arechi stadium. Twenty thousand spectators applauded Baggio, Totti, Zanetti, Di Natale, Milito, Barzagli, Trezeguet, Fiore, Ventola, Candela, Chevanton, Lucarelli, Amelia, Vannucchi, Galante, Pizarro, Di Michele, Di Biagio, Gottardi, Di Napoli, Tonetto, Maini, Bressan, Tedesco, Cesar, Moscardelli, Chimenti, Antonio and Emanuele Filippini, Altomare, Savino, Fusco, De Cesare, Panico, Pantano, Tosto, Orlandini, Garzya, Marcolin, Aldair. Operation Nostalgia is also about remembering what happened at the Meazza stadium on 29 November 1998, on the occasion of the Inter-Salernitana match. The talented Di Michele scored, then the Inter comeback until Zanetti made it 2-1. At the end of the match, Moratti sacked Simoni, even though he had won the match. The memory of Luca Fusco who then exchanged shirts with Totti, on his debut at the Olimpico stadium in 1998/’99, on the occasion of Roma-Salernitana, is also nostalgic.
