The novel coronavirus has wrecked havoc in Italy, where the situation is so terrible that some people are looking at reports of 602 new deaths on Monday somewhat positively as it is a drop from a high of 793 recorded on Saturday.
Among the 6,077 deaths, most were elderly, prompting sombre news headlines such as “a generation has died”.
Italy may mean many things to many people – history, heritage, renaissance, art, Mussolini, mafia, Italian tycoons in Mills and Boon romance, or even the Gandhis.
For me and many Bengalis like myself, Italy always meant football.
Yes, traditionally, we have appreciated the more attacking version of the game played by Latin American countries like Brazil or Argentina, but no true football fan can ignore the Italian legends.
The worst-affected Lombardy region of Italy, with over 3,000 deaths, has at its centre the metropolis of Milan, home to A.C. Milan and Inter Milan, among the biggest names in European football. Lombardy boasts of a number of footballing greats, including Paolo Maldini, considered as the greatest left-back of all time, the good-looking winger Roberto Donadoni, Andrea Pirlo, Franco Baresi, Gianluca Zambrotta and goalkeeper Walter Zenga, who holds the record of having the longest period without conceding a goal in World Cup finals tournament (in 1990).
I faintly remember Italy’s 1982 World Cup triumph and a magazine article about keeper-captain Dino Zoff, the oldest ever winner of the World Cup at the age of 40. I remember supporting Brazil against Italy in the 1994 WC final match which the former won in tie-breaker, and I distinctly remember backing “The Azzurri” conditionally as they won their fourth World Cup, defeating France in Berlin in 2006, only because I, like many other Brazil fans, wanted “revenge” for Brazil’s 3-0 defeat in 1998 WC finals at the hands of Zinedine Zidane’s team.
May Italy bring their legendary defensive skills to the fore and win this game too, against the pandemic. This is the prayer of an ordinary football fan in a country which is preparing to fight its own difficult battle to combat the virus.
Among the 6,077 deaths, most were elderly, prompting sombre news headlines such as “a generation has died”.
Italy may mean many things to many people – history, heritage, renaissance, art, Mussolini, mafia, Italian tycoons in Mills and Boon romance, or even the Gandhis.
For me and many Bengalis like myself, Italy always meant football.
Yes, traditionally, we have appreciated the more attacking version of the game played by Latin American countries like Brazil or Argentina, but no true football fan can ignore the Italian legends.
The worst-affected Lombardy region of Italy, with over 3,000 deaths, has at its centre the metropolis of Milan, home to A.C. Milan and Inter Milan, among the biggest names in European football. Lombardy boasts of a number of footballing greats, including Paolo Maldini, considered as the greatest left-back of all time, the good-looking winger Roberto Donadoni, Andrea Pirlo, Franco Baresi, Gianluca Zambrotta and goalkeeper Walter Zenga, who holds the record of having the longest period without conceding a goal in World Cup finals tournament (in 1990).
I faintly remember Italy’s 1982 World Cup triumph and a magazine article about keeper-captain Dino Zoff, the oldest ever winner of the World Cup at the age of 40. I remember supporting Brazil against Italy in the 1994 WC final match which the former won in tie-breaker, and I distinctly remember backing “The Azzurri” conditionally as they won their fourth World Cup, defeating France in Berlin in 2006, only because I, like many other Brazil fans, wanted “revenge” for Brazil’s 3-0 defeat in 1998 WC finals at the hands of Zinedine Zidane’s team.
May Italy bring their legendary defensive skills to the fore and win this game too, against the pandemic. This is the prayer of an ordinary football fan in a country which is preparing to fight its own difficult battle to combat the virus.
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