Italy had just won the UEFA European Football Championship 2020 and there I was trying to avoid thrown chairs and other flying objects. “Interesting way to celebrate” I thought to myself while getting hit with an empty plastic cup.
Italy had just beaten England on penalty kicks to win their first major championship since the 2006 World Cup and the seaside Italian party town of Riccione was erupting in celebration. It was incredible to be in Italy for the full duration of the tournament and to especially be in a city like Riccione for the championship game. Italians are known all over the world to be one of the cultures most obsessed with soccer (along with the British, Spanish, and Brazilians) so it was quite amazing to be able to experience an obsessed culture go crazy every match for the whole tournament. It was apparent from one of the first matches that soccer in Italy is on a whole other level than any of my major sports in the US. The largest cultural sporting event in the US, the Super Bowl, pales in comparison to the intensity, thrills, and passion of soccer in Italy.
I had been in Rome a couple of weeks earlier for the Round of 16 match against Austria and it was crazy to see every restaurant and bar in the city packed with people huddled around TVs setup on the streets. Piazzas full of people. I was watching the game a bit here and there but was also walking around doing some nighttime photography. If you could somehow avoid seeing the game that was being shown literally everywhere, it was impossible to not know when Italy scored, based on how the streets would erupt with cheers. I was near the Vatican when the game ended and for about a solid hour there were cars driving around honking horns and carrying flags, heard a few fireworks too. To me, it seemed as if a match of much greater importance had just been won. But no, I would learn that things were just getting started in Italy.
Flash-forward back to July 11 and I was in Riccione for the weekend. I had watched both the Quarterfinal and Semi-final and was excited to get to watch a major soccer Final while in Italy. While I’m almost exclusively a baseball and Olympics fan, I also follow the US Women’s National Soccer Team, so while I would enjoy the game nonetheless, it was cool to be a part of a cultural moment.
After an intense game and penalty kicks, Italy had won and the celebration was on. Once the madness had calmed at the bar where I was on the north side of Riccione, I took to the streets myself to see what was going on. I personally didn’t do anything to take part in the celebration, but it was fun to just walk with groups of people to wherever we were all walking and take in the chanting, singing, honking, waving, and other forms of celebration that were going on. I wish I had had a flag or something but it was super fun nonetheless to be a part of something big. I tried to understand what everyone was chanting and singing but it was a bit difficult at times, some of the things seemed pretty funny though.
I decided to head back to my hotel at around 1, but the streets were still alive and the party was just getting started it seemed. It was funny because some of my Italian friends were telling me that the real party for soccer is on the streets of the cities, and it’s true! There were some fireworks going off on the beach, and a lot of people had red and green flares and were carrying them around. I’m not sure where they got them from, as I don’t even know where to buy them here in the US, but it was super fun and entertaining, albeit probably a bit dangerous, but I don’t think anyone cared.
