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Italy celebrates as funeral turns to party Posted: Thursday June 13, 2002 11:34 AM
Throughout the nail-biting match, in which Alessandro Del Piero equalized for the Azzurri five minutes from time, Italians cursed and quarrelled as a series of refereeing decisions were damned and denounced up and down the peninsula. In the end, there was jubilation that Italy, which last won soccer's greatest prize in 1982 in Spain, was not going home and was still a contender for a fourth World Cup triumph. "I didn't believe they could do it, but I hoped. Hope is the last thing to die," said Simone Chapetta, 20, one of 2,000 fans who watched the match on a big screen in Rome's Piazza Farnese. "With a qualification like this, there is hope for the future. They have suffered enough," he said. "We are overjoyed. We knew Italy could do it. France and Argentina might get kicked out, but never Italy, the truly great remain," said Daniele Damiani, 20. The relief came at the end of what was for many the longest 90 minutes they could remember. When Del Piero saved the day with a header from close range, the nation's mood changed instantly as if someone had waved a magic wand over the country. "I feel an indescribable joy. I have only one word for Del Piero's goal -- grazie (thank you)," said Gianluca Carli, 20, one of the fans wrapped in an Italian flag in Rome. Del Piero flopped in Italy's disappointing 1998 World Cup campaign in France, failing to score, and the Juventus player was also singled out for criticism at the Euro 2000 championship. "Before, we all thought that Del Piero was the wrong choice but now the whole of Italy loves him," said Franco Hugony, a 24 year-old student who watched the match in Milan's Piazza del Duomo in front of the city's cathedral. "He is our hero." Amid a sea of green, red and white Italian flags in Milan, pensioner Paolo Mattitzia celebrated by hugging strangers. "We we all very worried. That was a terrible experience but now it's wonderful," he said. Tense until the end Up to the final whistle, murmurs of anticipation and shouts of frustration filled squares, offices, homes and hospitals. The mood turned sour in the 13th minute after striker Filippo Inzaghi put the ball in the net but the was ruled offside. That ruling was contested furiously by fans and footballers alike and recalled the two goals disallowed in Italy's 2-1 defeat to Croatia last Saturday. "It seems Italy has to score three goals to get awarded one," said Santo Secchieroni. "The referees aren't concentrating on the match, they are thinking about their wives at home." Dressed in the colours of the Italian flag, Secchieroni sat on an old fashioned penny farthing bicycle, pounding his fist at the misfortune. "It's the linesman, he's just down-right unfair, he should be ashamed. You can't just cancel goals like that," said an angry Pasquale Mazzotta, 25, a fan in Rome. "The linesmen are terrible. There hasn't been a single one worthy of the World Cup," agreed Emmanuele Muzio. The mood became funereal in the 34th minute when Mexican striker Jared Borgetti, running on to a chip by Cuauhtemoc Blanco, crowned an intricate passing movement with a deft, twisting header across goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. After Del Piero snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, horns blared, fans jumped into fountains and hugged strangers. But not everyone was thrilled. "It's a tragedy that Italy qualified with this result," said Federico Bartolini, 25. Mexican tourists in Rome had trouble containing their joy. "We feel strange as we're not watching the match at home, so if we feel terrified or excited we won't be able to show it. If we win, we'll have to keep quiet," said Diana Hadid, 20. In the end, though, the result was enough for both Italy and Mexico to go through.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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