Balls And Blood

Then, out of nowhere, the ball reappears. A formation of runners from the Reds—the rugby players—sprints into Blue territory. The crowd sees it, but most of the Blues don't. They're too deep in battle. A Red player throws the ball at the goal from 15 yards out; it bounces once and pops in. The crowd roars. Cannons fire. It's 1--0, Red.

The Reds run a similar play and score again. The brawling continues. The captain of the Blues, 38-year-old fishmonger Riccardo Caparrini, takes a vicious blow to the head and is knocked out. Blue stages a brief rally, closing the deficit to 5--4 with 20 minutes to go, but Red's boxers and wrestlers batter their way to a 9 1/2--4 victory.

Afterward the defeated Blues stumble onto the ancient, cobblestone streets—bleary and bloodied. Zena says that he is already thinking about next year when, he hopes, the rules will be amended so that he can return to the pitch and face the Red players. "Ce li mangiamo!" he vows in a low, hoarse snarl. We will eat them!