The Italian national football team won the game and the celebrations broke out throughout Italy Euro 2020 The final after a tense penalty shootout.
“This is a unique emotion,” Vincenzo Francavilla said. “There is so much love Italy. “
“But it was a challenging game. England played well, but Italy was more interested.”
Earlier, Rome’s bartender, Claudia Iacobazzo, said that the city was tense all day long. “Obviously I want Italy to win, but I like England, so I will also be happy for them.”
The European Football Championship has elevated Italy’s status, with flags hung in almost every bar, restaurant and home in the country.
Just three years ago, Italian fans were heartbroken because the national team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. This was the first failure since 1958.
But the head coach Roberto Mancini is widely praised for turning the team into a team that the Italians can be proud of. “Mancini is great,” Andreina Fellini said. “He managed to keep the players calm, focused and united. There is no longer a heroine like before.”
Fellini has been at home with her 80-year-old husband Carmine watching the progress of the Italian game at home. “But we have two TVs-so he is in one room and I am in the other room. I need to calm down while watching the game.”
Carmine interjected: “But she is the one who swears in the game, not me!” He said that he wants Italy to win, but he is not as “fanatic in football” as he used to be. “When Italy won the World Cup in 1982, I was the leader of the celebration. Now I am more mature.”
When the England team scores a few minutes after the start of the game, a lot of spells are used. Those who missed the kick-off and wandered around Rome knew from the sounds of the bars and terraces that this was not the goal of Italy.
But when Leonardo Bonucci (Leonardo Bonucci) equalized for Italy to enter the second half, there was cheers throughout the city.
“It’s already a wonderful thing for Italy to reach the finals,” said George, who was watching the game at a rooftop bar in the Monti district of Rome. “We didn’t expect this to happen. This is a beautiful final.”
People’s expectations at the start of the game were low, especially when the pandemic and its consequences were still imminent. But as Italy progressed, people’s excitement grew.
For the early Italian games, only a few regulars would gather around the small TV set by Daniele Lorenzetti outside the traditional Roman beverage kiosk in Vittorio square in the Esquilino neighborhood. By the time of the finals, the place was so busy that he had to buy a big screen.
“It’s very interesting. Only about 5% of Italians really understand football. Then when you get to this point, you will get thousands of football experts,” Lorenzetti said.
“To a certain extent, we are not used to supporting Italy because we are very focused on our local team, whether it is Roma, Juventus or Atlanta. The only time we really come together for Italy is when they are in a tournament. Achieve such a great result.”
