“There has never been such a party”: Napoli celebrates Italy’s biggest party

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Tourists without knowledge of football who stroll through Naples today experience their blue wonder in the old city streets. The city shines in azure blue and white, in the colors of SSC Napoli – new champions of Serie A for exactly a month. And since Sunday evening, after the last game against Sampdoria, now also in possession of the trophy. At 9:15 p.m., Captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo lifts the trophy into the air.

A city in football delirium. The euphoria of the fans? Seemingly limitless. For example, during the break in the last game, there was a marriage proposal in the stands. Blick is in the middle of the Napoli madness on the day the cup is handed over.

Every balcony, window and alley is decorated with streamers, cardboard cutouts and portraits of the players. And the locals wear all-time azure sweaters. Some with legendary sponsor Buitoni. “Napoli is a way of life,” says a barista as he pours a cup of coffee over the counter.

Naples is in paradise. The long wait for the third Scudetto in the club’s history is over. 33 years have passed since the second championship title. Thirty three (!). A month of Sundays.

Swiss fan clubs are not allowed to enter the stadium as a whole

The Swiss Napoli fan club from Hinwil ZH is also present during this memorable weekend. More than 80 members did not want to miss the festival and the last game of the season. For everyone, club president Gianluca D’Angelo tried to get a ticket for the last game against Sampdoria.

Because the stampede for tickets was so great, he had bad news to report for the first time in the fan club’s ten-year existence. Because only 13 members received a ticket. “It’s never happened before,” he says.

But the party comes for those who are not allowed to enter the stadium, but certainly not too short. Before, during and after the game there are big parties in the city center. For example, on the Piazza del Plebiscito, where a huge stage has been set up and parties are celebrated all night long.

Unlike, for example, in Turin or Milan, where the country’s financially strong clubs are at home, the championship title is not celebrated here in one evening and according to a fixed program. In Campania, the festivities last for weeks. It stays that way all summer.

Coffee bill on masterly paper

Even in the restaurants, the Scudetto is ubiquitous. Waiters wear specially made T-shirts printed with “Campioni d’Italia 2022/23”. Today, some bars even have their bills printed on paper celebrating the third championship title.

But while coach Luciano Spalletti’s team has achieved extraordinary things and enjoyed little pre-season credit after a radical upheaval, a former player is still more honoured.

Diego Armando Maradona. His name, the D10S and his motif including a halo are ubiquitous. Even in Sampdoria’s match: Goalscorer Simeone shows a dress with Maradona’s number 10 during the cheering.

For many Neapolitans, the deceased Argentinian is at least as important as the city’s patron saint, San Gennaro. That should mean something. After all, the residents maintain a very personal, even intimate relationship with San Gennaro.

The Gazzetta writes about the festival on a gigantic scale

Maradona’s Murales (massive murals) in the infamous Quartieri Spagnoli have become as much a place of pilgrimage as Naples Cathedral with the relics of San Gennaros. Many people gather here.

“The Largo Diego Armando Maradona has overtaken some other attractions in terms of visitor numbers,” explains an employee of the tourist office. Many of the visitors have not even experienced the “Pibe de Oro”. Yet “ho visto Maradona, ho visto Maradona, oh Mamma inamorato sono” resounds through the streets.

The blue and white streets. “A festival on a gigantic scale that has never existed before”, is how the “Gazzetta dello Sport” describes it. Exaggerating is considered good manners in Italy. But in this case it is absolutely justified. Because Napoli is not only celebrating their third Scudetto, but also football and themselves. Finally.

Source : Blick