Italy basks in soccer glory, hopes it will help heal national wounds
Send a link to a friend
[July 12, 2021]
By Crispian Balmer
ROME (Reuters) - After 18 months of
pandemic hell, Italy revelled in some soccer heaven on Monday after its
national team brought back the Euro cup for the first time since 1968
following victory over England in London.
Led by coach Roberto Mancini, the players landed shortly after dawn to
find many fans were still celebrating in the early morning cool, with
the smell of fireworks lingering in the streets and flags flapping out
of car windows.
"We really needed to get together again, to celebrate, to be happy, to
have a shared moment. We really needed it," said Rome resident Sara
Giudice.
Italy was the first Western country to be slammed by the coronavirus
last year and has registered 127,775 deaths so far, more than any
European country bar Britain.
Most of the restrictions aimed at curbing contagion have been lifted and
Sunday felt like a liberation in many squares across the country where
the soccer triumph was greeted by an explosion of cheers, blaring car
horns and tears.
"You were in front of our eyes. You were in our hearts. The pain of
those who have suffered. The hardships of those who have been brought to
their knees by the pandemic," veteran captain Giorgio Chiellini wrote on
Twitter.
The team is known simply as the Azzurri, the colour of the deep blue
skies that sit over Italy throughout the summer, uniting the country as
much as the shared passion for soccer.
"Soccer is not a metaphor of life, or politics, but the national team
always ends up resembling the nation it represents. This past month,
Mancini's team has reminded us that being Italian isn't so bad after
all," Corriere della Sera newspaper said.
[to top of second column]
|
Fireworks explode as Italy fans celebrate winning Euro 2020 at
Piazza Duomo REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo
A brass band marched through the streets of the
southern island of Lampedusa, fans rowed through the canals of
Venice and a procession of honking cars drove along the same street
in the northern city of Bergamo, where last year army trucks queued
up to collect coffins of COVID victims.
Plaudits poured in from all sides, from politicians to priests,
hoping that success on the soccer field held a broader message for a
nation that registered its worst recession last year since World War
Two and is now seeking redemption.
"Behind this team there is an entire country that never gives up,
that never quits, that always finds new energy to express courage,"
Italy's association of Catholic bishops wrote.
Farmers' federation Coldiretti hoped the economy would receive a
similar boost to 2006, when the Azzurri won the World Cup. On that
occasion, exports rose 10% the following year, while 3.5% more
tourists visited the country as the national brand received a global
fillip, Coldiretti said in a statement.
"If this (victory) remains a beautiful memory in a dark moment or if
instead it becomes a symbol of rebirth depends only on us," Corriere
della Sera wrote.
(Additional reporting by Antonio Denti; Editing by Nick Macfie)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|