With each match, the streets of Naples are taken by storm. Thousands of Neapolitans and supporters from all over the world come for the event. Thirty-three years after its last coronation, the football team of a city where this sport is king could win the Italian championship, the Scudetto, from this Wednesday evening May 3.
In the event of Lazio defeat at 9 p.m., Naples would be crowned without playing. Otherwise, she keeps her destiny in hand by playing Thursday, May 4 against Udinese. The 18 points that separate Napoli from second-placed Lazio leave little room for doubt.
Sunday April 30, when Naples was already in a position to win, thousands of people in blue jerseys strolled through the streets, the horns mingling with the chants of the supporters. banners « Naples champion of Italy » and flags adorn the walls of the city center, while street vendors are already selling jerseys embroidered with three crests. Thirty-three years after the coronation of the team led by Diego Maradona and a few hours from this long-awaited title, the Parthenopean city is in turmoil.
At the corner of a street, Vincenzo and his friends have a coffee before going to the stadium. For these young twenty-somethings who grew up with their parents’ story of the 1987 and 1990 victories without ever seeing their team win, it’s a dream come true. “I’ve been waiting for this since I was born”says one. “I haven’t slept all night, I reviewed all the archives of 87 to prepare myself”continues Vincenzo, who admits having already written a letter to his future children “to tell them what’s going on”.
“It’s the hand of God!” »
A little further on, in the Spanish quarters, Emanuele de Deo street, at the end of which is the famous Maradona fresco, which has become a sanctuary for supporters and an essential place to visit for tourists, is crowded. “We came to pray” jokes Alessandra, who came with her husband before going to see the match. “There are those who go to see San Gennaro and those who come here,” continues her husband in reference to the patron saint of the city, before concluding: “It’s a pilgrimage. »
Because in Naples hovers this belief that Maradona would not be a stranger to this victory. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that we’re about to win the Scudetto, just after Argentina’s victory in the World Cup? »says a supporter who came with her family. “It’s the hand of God!” they shout in chorus. He’s gone, but somehow he’s still with us. »
Revenge of the South on the North
In Naples, as in 1987 and 1990, victory goes far beyond the sporting sphere. “It’s the revenge of the south on the north, of the poor on the bourgeoisie, it’s a cultural victory”, develops Gianfrancesco. In more than a hundred years of championship, the trophy has escaped only eight times from a northern club, and has been monopolized for twenty-two years by three of them: Juventus Turin, Inter Milan and AC Milano. “And it’s a victory without cheating”, continues the student, in reference to the arbitration scandals which again splattered Juventus of Turin this year.
This cultural revenge, Luca Bifulco, sports sociologist at the Frederick II University in Naples, wants to put it into perspective. “Unlike the days of Maradona, when he was an exceptional, mystical player who offered the title, now it’s a collective victory, it’s the fruit of managerial intelligence”he underlines, warning against the pitfall of being satisfied with this type of symbolic victory. “We must build on these victories to develop the rest and not lock ourselves into North-South victimization. »
Even if everything seemed written to celebrate it on Sunday, the victory was postponed by a few days. At the 84e minute of a match yet dominated by the Neapolitan team, Salerno equalized, postponing Wednesday the hope of winning the league title.
After the game, hundreds of people converged on Place du Plébiscite where the party was planned. Because, as confident supporters say: “It’s coming soon, we’re champions anyway. »
