The last Notes from Verona column posed the question “will the Bentegodi embrace the women’s game?” While the answer was an emphatic “yes”, like most over-hyped events, the first double-header of its kind in Italy involving a men’s and women’s team was a disappointing anti-climax, both on and off the pitch, with fans left waiting for a service that ultimately failed to deliver.
Another disappointing result for Verona’s men
In one of the most disappointing results of the season (in a campaign in which there has be no shortage), the men’s team lost 2-1 to a well-drilled but beatable Parma. It was a well-balanced encounter, and one that Verona would have taken at least a point from where it not for a fleeting moment of madness with barely ten minutes left on the clock.
With the game seemingly under control, Verona’s young Brazilian striker Giovane inexplicably played a long loping header backwards in the general direction of his goalkeeper. Parma’s 24-year-old Argentinian striker, who had been a thorn in the side of the Hellas defence all afternoon, eagerly pounced on Giovane’s error to lob over a helplessly exposed Montipo.
As the final whistle sounded, a mortified Giovane broke down in tears, all too aware that he had cost his team a point and possibly more. Verona’s season may well be defined by such moments (and similar results this season at home against Cagliari and Sassuolo), and Giovane can’t hide from the gravity of his error. But, with Verona now rooted to the foot of the table, it is coach Paolo Zanetti who will ultimately pay the price for yet another home defeat in what was an eminently winnable encounter.
With upcoming fixtures against fellow strugglers Genoa (away), Atalanta (home) and Fiorentina (away), Zanetti’s fate will be sealed by Christmas. If he doesn’t secure Verona’s first win of the season in a least one of those fixtures, he is unlikely to receive his Christmas panettone.
Shambolic service
After such a dispiriting curtain raiser the least you could hope for was a quick and appetising refreshment as the second game of the afternoon’s double-header got under way. But, in the grim bowels of the east stand the much-hyped hospitality service was almost as farcical as Parma’s winner.
Expectations inside the Bentegodi aren’t exactly high. A freshly poured can, a steaming vin brulé if it’s cold, or even just a pocket sized capsule of Borghetti to warm the cockles. Instead the club’s new American owners have opted for a more ambitious menu of draft Budweiser, hot dogs and popcorn.
That would be fine if the staff were remotely equipped to deal with the thirsty crowd that had been persuaded to forgo their sacred Sunday lunch with the promise of cut-price beer and hotdogs.
At half-time, fans were kept waiting nearly 30 minutes for drinks, many of them missing the first 15 minutes of the second half as they waited for a hotdog that, like an elusive Hellas Verona victory, never seemed to come.
While poor catering isn’t the end of the world, and most fans took the farcical scenes in good humour, the standard of service doesn’t bode well with more complex projects in the offing. If the club can’t deliver a half-time hot dog, what chance a new stadium?
Despite suffering such an ignominious defeat to Parma (their first victory on the road this season) and a catering service that left fans hungry, thirsty and frustrated, many stayed on to welcome Hellas Verona Women barely 10 minutes after the final whistle had sounded in the men’s game.
Hellas Women make history
The Curva Sud, as it so often does on these occasions, captured the moment with its characteristic brand of irreverent fun, unfurling a banner which read “COI GOTI A MACA, VARDEMO ANCA I PULCINI! FORZA VERONA!”, which roughly translated means “With free booze, we’d even watch the kids play! Go Verona!”
In fact, Hellas Women entered the pitch to an extremely warm reception as the autumn sun slowly slid behind the west stand and the temperature began to plummet.
Loyal fans were rewarded with a moment of history when 21-year-old striker Linda Montesi became the first player to score for Hellas Verona Women at the Bentegodi, against her former club!
With honours even at half-time, most of those fans who had remained to witness the historic moment had seen enough and began making for the exits. With just a handful of fans now scattered around the cavernous stadium, Roma eased to a convincing 3-1 victory.
Speaking afterwards, Simone Bragantini, the Hellas Women’s coach, said:
“Today was a disappointing afternoon because of the result, but we put in a good performance. Obviously, when you create something, you also have to finish it off and bring home the result. At times, we lacked a bit of clarity and composure, as well as defensive focus. We still take away a great feeling that must carry over into our next matches.”
Of the historic occasion, he added:
“I had no doubt that our fans would make their voices heard today. I’m from Verona myself and I know Hellas fans. I thank them and the club, and especially our president Italo Zanzi, because the idea of having us play at the Bentegodi was neither a foregone conclusion nor a simple one. It was a very important gesture for women’s football.”
A bold gesture and a step in the right direction.
As the women’s game in Italy lags behind its English, Spanish and German counterparts, the historic double-header at the Bentegodi on Sunday afternoon was a bold gesture that raised the profile of the women’s football in the city. Of course, it will take more than a single match to attract the kind of loyalty that the men’s game has commanded for decades. But, if even Verona’s notorious Curva Sud can get behind its women’s team, the future of the game in the city has taken a positive step in the right direction. Now just sort out the bar service.
Richard Hough is the author of Verona Campione, the Miracle of 85.