The notes of “Magic Nights”, the anthem of the 1990 Italian World Cup, resonate in the sky of Dortmund at the final whistle of Italy-Albania. The Azzurri won, defeating Sylvinho’s difficult National team in a comeback, and there is also euphoria in the voices of those who reported the match at Signal Iduna Park for Rai. Alberto Rimedio, however, had a tough time a few minutes earlier: together with the technical commentator Antonio Di Gennaro he had to deal with a throwing objects towards his position.
Italy-Albania, the pitch invasion and the throwing of objects
It was Rimedio himself who reported what happened live. It all occurred in the last minutes of the match, in conjunction with the pitch invasion by a burly Albanian fan who, equipped with a flag, lost some stewards and interrupted the game for about a minute. During which tempers evidently ran high in the stands too. Fifty thousand Albanian supporters in Dortmund. And in that minute something not very pleasant happened.
Live remedy: can on the Rai station
As reported by Rimedio live, right in sync with the pitch invasion From the stands, cans and bottles were thrown towards the playing field. One of these hit the RAI commentary station. Luckily, no consequences either for Rimedio or for Di Gennaro and their assistants. Alessandro Antinelli and Lele Adani reassured us of this – at the end of the match – during the connection with “European Nights”. And the confirmation came from the commentator himself, contacted by Virgilio Sport: “As I said on commentary, they threw a can and it hit the station, a few centimeters from me. Luckily he didn’t catch me or Antonio Di Gennaro. That’s all”.
Tension in Dortmund in the pre-match: the nice gesture during the anthems
The match in Dortmund, however, had been preceded by moments of tension, with several Italian “fans” found in possession of objects capable of offending and stopped by the police. Inside the stadium, however, nothing to report until – precisely – the excited final. On the contrary, during the performance of the national anthems the Albanian supporters even sang the Mameli anthem at the top of their lungs. Then the brief – and fortunately without consequences – “madness” of the last minutes. Originating, perhaps, from the failure to concede a corner to Albania, after a score-saving save by Donnarumma on Manaj. Nothing, however, that could justify the “outburst” of some agitated people.
