Flags feverishly waving, explosives and canons booming at seemingly random intervals. No, it isn’t a protest or a war reenactment but a typical occurrence at an Italian football game.
This Saturday, I attended one of the most forecasted football games of the regular season, Roma versus Lazio. I had been warned that it may be deadly to attend the game, especially as a Roma fan, but I had also been told a soccer game in Rome was a required experience.
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The rivalry between Roma and Lazio, one of the strongest in Italian football history, came to the end during the nazi period when the Lazio team was mostly composed of world players, while the Roma team was made up of, well, Romans. Fascism also fostered the idea of absolute hatred of your enemies, even on the football field. Walking into the stadium, which was built by Mussolini, I felt as if I were stepping back in time. I made a decision not to wear any sort of clothing that would hint that I was favoring Roma, staying away from the team colors of dark red and gold, but somehow the Lazio fans knew. I felt like a sitting duck in the middle of ocean of Lazio light blue. Luckily , we had seats in the distinti sud section, reserved for visitors and Roma fans. It was less raucous than the Lazio section, but still, the fans chanted at such a volume that my ears were ringing long after they stopped. A few of them even threw themselves over the glass barricades to get closer, or further away, from their own teams’ most fervent fans. At 1 time, riot police bearing protecting shields attacked a piece of the stadium, clearing out the excessively excited.
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What I found engaging and even funny was the stark contrast between the insane bravery of the fans and the overly dramatic, just about sissyish tactics of the players during the game. I saw a fan throw himself off a twelve-foot wall onto cement ground and walk away as if he’d landed on pillows, but the moment one player was tripped he was on the ground howling bloody murder, gripping his leg. As quickly as he realized nobody was heeding his calls for attention, he picked himself up and continued playing. Alas, the stereotypical Italian male still does exist, in the shape of some of their most loved football players!
The thing that frightened the pants off me was also the most galvanizing : the large heart and pride each fan, Lazio or Roma, had for their team. I could feel the heartbreak of those around me when Lazio scored, as well as the convincing dissatisfaction that came with the awareness that Lazio was going to win. Although Roma did not win the game she, once more, won my heart.
Roma Roma Roma
Core de sta citt
Unico grande amore
De tanta e tanta gente
Che fai sospir
