Sorrento didn’t score, Robin Gosens did.
30th April, 2023: Naples-Capodichino International Airport is literally buzzing with excitement and anticipation, and you get the sense there’s something bigger going on outside of these halls, something that’s bigger than all of us.
The wait in the car rental line has been long, it’s hot and humid, and what seems normal has descended into stereotypical Italian chaos over he said, she said and who did and didn’t take a ticket and their respective place in the line.
Outside the airport and the surrounding carpark, a sudden eruption of noise occurs, and as what we call in Australia ‘bungers’, fill the air in sequence one after the after, accompanying fireworks join in and of course they are followed by their compulsory associates, the airhorn and car horns.
Inside the airport, and behind the car rental counter, where one person with a single airpod in his right ear is manning a ridiculously long line, suddenly jumps for joy and that’s in the middle of helping a customer.
Two more people emerge from behind the closed door in the office screaming, ‘Lautaro has scored, Lautaro has scored, Lautaro has scored!’. Some of the international tourists and travellers seem bemused clueless to what’s going on.
Inter Milan have equalised against Lazio and suddenly Napoli are in the driving seat for their first Scudetto since the 1989-90 season. You won’t see another Inter Milan goal celebrated so fondly around these parts for a long time.
Moments later, the airport and its surrounding areas once again explode with joy, noise, and colour in the bright daylight sky. Lautaro has scored a second goal to give Inter the lead against Lazio meaning Napoli could seal their long-awaited Scudetto with a win against Salernitana later that day.
So, for those still paying attention I’m in Naples, it’s a matchday, Salerno is a short distance away, I’m a short drive out of the Naples city centre and I feel like I’m in the middle of the Calcio world.
It’s crystal clear what I need to do.
Go watch a Serie D match.
So, Avanti, Sorrento here we come!
With the car GPS set for Sorrento’s Stadia Italia the short trip to has us driving roads lined up with Napoli flags, banners, player posters and Napoli best XI’s.
And of course, Diego Maradona, his iconic face along with his number ten, is everywhere!
Even my daughter, who’s joining me on this Italian adventure and has little interest in football, has been swept up by Napoli’s Scudetto winning pre-party and the imagery of Diego, knowing him only by first name and describing him as ‘the guy I’ve seen at home before’.
Arriving to find roads closed in Sorrento, due to the Napoli expected Scudetto celebrations, in true Italian driving style I manage to jump the curve in my FIAT Cinquecento rental around a traffic barrier and locate the one available car space in the street.
I can spot Sorrento’s stadium lights tower at a distance towering, pardon the pun, above the local houses, apartment blocks and conveniently located citywide lemon farms.
Yes, that’s right, in the middle of Sorrento and its local residential area the lemon farms are too many to count.
Sorrento Calcio’s Stadia Italia is surrounded by eight-foot-high wall of concrete with a few boarded-up windows momentarily breaking up the solid walls however walking to the ground we can hear the local tifosi making the presence felt as drums and a solitary trumpet leads them in song.
Today Sorrento Calcio host Roman side LVPA Frascati, alternatively known as Lupa Roma, managed by former Treviso and Spezia midfielder Roberto Chiappara. We pick up two tickets for 10 euro each at the Curva end of the ground, which houses both the Sorrento Calcio clubhouse and the ticket office.
Once inside the ground we found a crowd of 300-400 strong.
Thanks to our earlier airport chaos we find ourselves arriving late to the game, with a fast-starting Sorrento taking the leading 1-0 thanks to a 2nd minute Marco Cuccurullo opener.
LVPA Frascati’s ‘away support’ consists of no more than 10-15 people all doing their best to make themselves heard. With chances at either end, you’d have been hard pressed to work out which of these teams was fighting out for their respective Serie D regional championship and which was struggling near the lower part of la classifica.
The half-time whistle saw the home side head into the changing rooms leading 1-0.
Sorrento came out of the blocks in the second half on a mission, determined to score early however that plan quickly backfires as they immediately find themselves under pressure and defending multiple corners in as many minutes.
With tension starting to rise given the increase in loud gesticulated cursing the visitors equalise and make it 1-1. As if the Romans sucked out the air from the stadium, it’s deadly silent with only the joyful screams of the few who travelled south to cheer their side on breaking the silence.
Sitting in second spot, with only two rounds to go, it was clear Sorrento needed to win and keep the pressure on league leaders Paganese.
The locals recommence their vocal support yet the louder they sing; the worse Sorrento seem to play at times guilty of both shambolic defending and way too many stray back passes inviting pressure from their Roman opposition.
Substitutions were made and literally seconds later and the fun starts.
Fireworks light up the daytime sky, bungers explode and tear through the silent suburb filling the air like a military zone.
‘What’s happening?’, asked my daughter.
I replied, ‘Sorrento didn’t score, Robin Gosens did’.
Inter has claimed the three points against Lazio and it’s now all but confirmed that all Napoli needs to do is defeat Salernitana later that afternoon and the Scudetto was theirs.
Now back to important Serie D matters at hand.
The momentum was clearly with the away side, and you got the sense they had their more fancied opponents on the ropes however throwing themselves forward in large numbers left them bereft of numbers at the back and ultimately that’s what led to the Romans downfall.
Sorrento strike on the counterattack and go ahead courtesy of a Giuseppe Cinque winning goal, that would’ve not only had Andy Wallace jumping out of his seat, but all in attendance who rush to celebrate with the home team pressed against the pitch side fence.
Seeing out the rest of the match seemed a formality for Sorrento, who ultimately finished the season with the equal best defence, and much to the delight of their faithful and vocal support.
‘Andiamo Serie C!’ ‘Andiamo Serie C!’.
Arm in arm the home crowd side made their way to the curva, and with a great cheer, lifted their arms in victory and found themselves one step closer to their goal, a championship and promotion to Serie C.
With that we made our way out of the stadium making the short walk into town where the party had already begun on two fronts, for Napoli who were expected to wrap up the Scudetto against Salernitana and seeing the local black and red hometown supporters celebrating their own well-earned three points.
Did Napoli go onto win the Scudetto that day? Sadly not.
As for Sorrento, I’m happy to report, their season ended in glorious victory one week later.
Thanks to a final day defeat at the hands of Tivoli Calcio, Paganese heartbreakingly lost top spot, a position which they’d occupied for ten of the last fifteen weeks of the season handing Sorrento their regional Serie D championship.
For those lucky enough to visit Sorrento, Stadia Italia may not be your ultimate destination and you may perhaps prefer to visit some of Campania’s more illustrious and highly fancied Calcio destinations, but without the organised chaos that is the Italian football pyramid, where the foundations of Italian football are built from, albeit at times very shakily, we can’t appreciate Serie A and all that comes with it, plus where else can you find a football field literally right next to a lemon farm?
Andiamo a Sorrento!