Italy wins the World Cup...

italy / italian / culture / life / living — world cup championsIn 1978 my parents and our family lived in Buenos Aires when Argentina beat the Netherlands to become World Cup champions (the World Cup is a month-long world soccer tournament held every four years since 1930). It was unbelievable! People were running around in the streets celebrating for two weeks (this was Argentina's first victory but second time in the finals). Then, in 2006 (while we were living in Italy), Italy beat France to become the most recent World Cup champions (its fourth championship overall!). I think I should be payed a huge fee for bringing luck to the team in whichever foreign country I'm living when the World Cup tournament comes around... maybe not.

I thought we were prepared for the melee that would ensue if Italy were to win but I was wrong. We watched the final match in our apartment in Spoleto and enjoyed the cheers and screams that could be heard from the windows. The game was tight (I personally thought France would win because they were having more shots on goal). italy / italian / culture / life / living — world cup championsAt the end of regulation and extra time the score was tied at 1-1. The extra time did see controversy when one of France's best players headbutted an Italian player and was kicked out of the game (no pun intended). Eventually, the game was decided by penalty kicks (and Italy won 5 to 3).

There were parties going on all night. It didn't matter that they had closed the historic center to traffic, people just left their cars in the middle of the road and migrated to the city center where the big screen was set up. Shortly thereafter, all this food showed up (free sandwiches and beer). There were flags waving everywhere and people climbing on walls and buildings and there was music and dancing, etc. It was crazy (and I heard Spoleto was tame compared to other cities in Italy). Che viva l'Italia!

 
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