BOLZANO. The arrival of summer, as we know, leads to dusting off the blue shirt. Whether you are a fan or not, the matches where the national team plays must be seen, even better if with friends at the bar.
Tomorrow evening Italy will debut at the European Football Championships against Albania. And how can we forget the emotion of 2021 when we won on penalties against England? L
he tomorrow’s match, in an area like Alto Adige where the Albanian community is close to 15 thousand people and is the largest among immigrant groups, is perceived almost as a derby. «For us it’s a big party», says Erion Maloku, manager of the Le Fantasy clubs, in Corso Libertà, and Pepper Lounge in Piazza Domenicani. Of Albanian origins, Maloku has been in Italy for almost 30 years.
“I have all the national team shirts,” he says. But tomorrow he will also wear the red one, from Albania. «Both come on, one on top of the other», he smiles, «As well as all the fans with their hearts divided into two teams. I will give the children a different one each.” A nice message. «The Albanian community is very integrated – he continues – so an evening like this must be seen as an opportunity to all be together, without divisions». Tritan Myftiu, city councilor and president of the PanAlbanian Arbëria association, also has the same opinion and will watch the match at the Universe bar in via Resia, also run by people with a migratory background.
«We meet there to support Albania. For Italy, participating in the European Championships is now routine, but no one expected us to make it. The match against Italy will be the acid test, which is also why we are anxiously awaiting it”, he says. Together with him there will be a good portion of the Albanian community. «Also because via Resia is close to the association’s headquarters. We even thought about screening the match directly here, but we were sorry to take away customers from the venue”, concludes Myftiu.
The bars where you can watch the match
Given the large following that the national team matches have in public places, the municipal council has approved a memorandum to authorize screening outside public establishments, recreational clubs and association offices until half past midnight (00.30). The matches can be projected with the help of monitors, televisions and projectors, as long as this happens in the stalls and in private spaces.
Below are some bars in Bolzano where tomorrow’s match will be screened: Le Fantasy, both in the restaurant area and in the bar area, at the Pepper Lounge in Piazza Domenicani. The giant screen could not be missing at the Romagnolo: the beating heart of Piazza Matteotti, nor at the Minogolf, where it will be possible to watch the match outdoors. Big screen also at the Tiffany bar in Piazza Vittoria and at Tc.
The national team’s table football tables
Among the curiosities of these European Championships is also the story of Michele Galasso’s Bolzano-based company, which will provide the two national teams, Italy and Albania, with some board games to strengthen the sense of team in moments of leisure. Billiards, foosball tables, pinball machines and ping pong tables will be distributed in the hotels where the teams are staying. Coach Spalletti also wants the players to turn off their electronic devices in favor of healthier entertainment.
