La Salernitana postpones the great party of Naples

The person responsible for the football mishap has been Salerno, a modest club that did its best not to give victory to Napoli and finally got a draw (1-1). Something that has made it not mathematically possible for Napoli to be proclaimed champion of Italy immediately. Neapolitan glory he escaped a few minutes from the enddue to a goal by Frenchman Boulaye Dia that spoiled the party in Naples and, off the field of play, silenced the entire city for a few minutes.

The obstacle may only be momentary. If this week Napoli beat Udinese or Juve come back over Lazio (and the latter lose or draw), the fans Neapolitans could finally lift the trophy they have been waiting for 33 yearswhen the club last won this trophy at the hands of the here revered Diego Armando Maradona.

However, the times are now not so accurate anymore. Which also explains why not being able to prevail against Salernitana was a tremendous pitcher of cold water for some fans Neapolitans who, earlier on Sunday, had rejoiced at Lazio’s defeat against Inter (1-3). Fact that I had given the false hope that the final victory was already certain. It was not so.

Suffer

“It’s a tragedy. we will win the scudetto but they gave us a beating”, summed up Carlo, a 50-year-old fan. “We knew that the Salernitana would be A hard bone to crackbut I think they did this just to hurt us,” explained Totó, an actor who, like thousands of Neapolitans, he did not take off his chair for a moment during the two games. “This is my first scudetto and it hurts me that today ended like this, but I’m sure we’ll make it,” said Gennaro, a 16-year-old teenager.

With that in mind, despite everything, Naples, a city mistreated for centuries and used to sufferShe also seemed determined not to give in to the unexpected outcome. Proof was that, shortly after the end of the game with Salernitana, the human mass that had moved from early on, continued parading and chanting through the squares and alleys of the neighborhoods of Forcella, Sanità, and the Quartieri Spagnoli.

There, in full Red zone declared by the city council to avoid excesses in the festivities (the circulation of cars was prohibited and thousands of police officers were mobilized), some fans they launched various firecrackers, while others paraded on their motorcycles, many of them without helmets. The unknown in Naples is now also how much the city will patiently endurein this state of waiting, a title that you already consider yours.