Lo Sport (Fiorentina)

In past issues of Florentine Braheem we have touched upon our admiration for the pride that the native Florentine’s have for their famous city. This pride is evident throughout daily life here in Florence and is one of the things that Anna’s loves the most about the city. Sport, and the love of their soccer team is no exception where the local people are crazy for “Fiorentina” the city’s football team.

Trey and I have been threatening to go to a game for a few months now and the time finally came where we bought tickets to “The Stadio” for Fiorentina versus AC Milan, a game that had significant ramifications in the nine month long season that is Italian Soccer. In order to understand the magnitude of the game, one must first understand how things work in Italian soccer. The Holly Grail is to be in what is known as the “Champions League” which consists of the thirty two best teams in Europe. Some examples of these teams this year are Roma, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter. These teams compete for the championship each year. There are however literally dozens of teams from cities around Europe who compete within their region each year in what is known as Series B. As an example, in Italy there are teams from Turin (Juventis), two from Milan (AC Milan and Inter), two from Rome (Lazio and Roma), Fiorentina, Sienna, Napoli, Catania etc…Each country has similar representation from the various regions within their county (Spain, England, Germany, France etc…) These teams compete within their country all year round with the first four places advancing “Next year” to the Champions League and having a shot at the title. So think of it this way sports fans, it would be like there being a sub-league in the NBA that consisted of eight teams that had a chance at the title this year and the way that you get into that sub league for next year is to finish in the top two spots in one of the four divisions “This year”! A bit confusing yes, but it sure makes for an important regular season. Additionally, those that are in the Champions League this year need to finish in the top four spots within their regional competition within their own country to maintain their spot in the Champions League for next year.

Heading into the match in Florence on February 2nd, the regular season was about 70% complete and Fiorentina was holding onto the precious 4th spot in the standings by the thin margin of only 1 point, with AC Milan in 5th place. The two collided in a big time match and Trey and I were there to witness it.

The city of Florence is not built to hold a forty thousand person stadium from a parking and traffic perspective. Those that have been to Wriggly Field or Fenway Park are familiar with stadiums that are built in the heart of a city. The “Stadio” in Florence is exactly this way, with residences and places of business directly across the street and no real formal parking facility. In fact people literally park on the sidewalks all around the stadium because there is no other option unless you want to walk two or three miles! I would estimate that the time that it would taken to arrive home had we taken our car would have approached two hours (Keep in mind we can see the lights of the stadium from our kitchen as it is only about four to five miles away as the crow flies)! For this reason, Trey and I took the Motorino on this chilly and rainy Sunday evening to the big match.

The outside of the stadium reminded me of an Italian version of the streets outside Fenway with plenty of energy and enthusiasm in the air and every one of the diehard fans donning the purple colors of their beloved team. The major difference would of course be in the food being served by the street vendors on the city streets. In Boston, you can buy some of the best sausage sandwiches you have every tasted on the streets near Fenway, complete with grilled onions, sauerkraut and bell peppers. There is certainly now problem finding a sausage sandwich in Italy either but you can add a whole array of additional options to the mix as well, including fresh pizza, carved pork loin sandwiches and hot Italian Soups served in large do go cups. Leave it to the Italians to take the art of ‘Ball Game Food” to another level!

The game was as expected, a very tight match, with Fiorentina dominating the action throughout but without having the ability to stuff one into the goal. At halftime the score was tied at zero. I am a fan of old fashioned “Pitcher’s Duels” in baseball, so where some might consider a zero to zero tie to be a yawner, I found the first half quite entertaining. The fans themselves are worth the price of admission! If you haven’t figured it out yet, I just love the Italian people anyway, and something about seeing them in the cold damp night routing for their team, with the passion of an eighteen year old sitting in the student section in his freshman year in college, made them that much more endearing to me. The areas behind the goals (End Zone areas to us American Football fans) are where all the action is. I was told to keep Trey and I clear of this area as it can be flat out dangerous (The old adage “I went to a fight and a soccer game broke out!). This area has no assigned seating and hosts the most raucous of fan. The interesting thing is that throughout the game the fans sing songs at the top of their lungs in unison! I’m not talking about once and while, but certainly more often than not. I only wish that I could understand what they were singing, but it sure entertained Trey and I. In fact, during the game I received a text message from Mark Tyoran who lives all the way across town near us (About five miles from the stadium). He was standing out on his balcony and could hear the fans singing at the stadium! Adding to the entertainment was the sounds that I heard throughout the game. Italian fans love to yell “Bravo” when someone makes a good defensive play or a fine pass to a teammate and when a shot on goal is missed or the other team has a breakaway the shouts of “Mama Mia” are plentiful. I should also note that in Italy its apparently not illegal for fans to smoke cigarettes as everyone around us was lighting up, especially in the later part of the second half when things got a bit nervous!

I also found that the viewing of a soccer game in person is far superior to watching on television. Beyond that of the raw energy of the fans, the perspective is much better as you can see plays develop in person that you would never be able to see on the tube. This is very similar to the experience of watching hockey in person versus on TV. For those that question whether these guys are good at what they do, get that out of your mind right now. They are flat out amazing. The ability to kick a ball on the dead run all the way across the field to a teammate with pinpoint accuracy is shocked me (Not to mention the teammate catching the long pass with his foot as if he had a first baseman’s mitt strapped to it!) These guys are real athletes, but they are also some of the biggest wussies on the planet too! Man talk about being cry babies. Three different times a player took a fall that would have you think that he had snapped his femur in two, leaving him painfully flailing on the ground looking for a favorable call from the official. In soccer, the clock never stops, so its imperative that if there is an injured player on the field that he be removed from the action as soon as possible. In all three cases medical teams came sprinting across the field with stretchers, leaving Trey to moan, “Oh God here come the paramedics again!” Once the stretchers arrived, the sight of them prompted a miraculous recovery of the player who would bounce to his feet and slowly jog off the field under his own power!

On to the second half. The action continued to be dictated by Fiorentina who ended up winning the infamous shots on goals 15-6, but with only ten minutes left in the game, AC Milan got a two on one break away which resulted in the first and only goal of the game! The crowd was in shock and a silence fell over the stadium that resembled the feeling of being in a mausoleum. One last ditch effort fell short for Fiorentina to tie the game when a corner kick created a “Header” that was knocked away with a brilliant diving save by the Milan goal keeper, “Mama Mia” groaned the crowd!

Following the game, Trey and I did what any good Italian would do following a loss. We went and had a gelato to take away our sadness! Form there it was off to the castle on the motorino where Mark and I hunkered down and watched one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time!