“Francescooooooo! Totti! Totti! Totti!,” yelled Italian commentator Fabio Caressa. The Azzurri had just been rescued by the forward’s last gasp penalty kick against Australia, securing a spot in the...
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Gol di Grosso: Italy, Germany and that night in Dortmund
For generations of football fans, Italy are the quintessential World Cup team. Skilful, stylish and exciting, Gli Azzurri have been involved in some iconic World Cup moments. While many...
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Italy’s déjà vu: How Azeglio Vicini’s Azzurri failed to qualify for Euro 92
Many among the 70,000 crowd gathered in the San Siro released an involuntary gasp as Spanish referee Antonio Lahoz blew a shrill, long note from his whistle. As the...
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Reporting for duty: When Serie A’s superstars did national service
“The next young player who says he does not want to play for England should be ordered to ring the parents of a soldier who has died serving his...
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Roberto Baggio’s redemption: A story of two World Cup penalties
According to Buddha’s teachings, “it is not prayer, not grace and not sacrifice that brings redemption, but only knowledge. The knowledge lies within the power of the individual”. It...
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The top 10 Azzurri kits of all time
What’s your favourite Italy jersey? The question sounds simple, but the answer, and the thought process involved in reaching a decision, is anything but. When I asked writers and...
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Mario Balotelli: A portrait of adversity
The year is 1461 – Portuguese explorers have just sailed onto the shores of modern day Sierra Leone, just above the Gulf of Guinea. It’s the tipping point of...
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Crazy for football: How the beautiful game is helping psychiatric patients in Italy
Between February 23 and 29, 2016 in Osaka Japan, 12 Italian players aged between 20 and 50 took part in the first ever futsal World Cup for people with...
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Oriundi and national identity in a multicultural Italy
The last Englishman to win the football World Cup, certain wags will try to tell you, wasn’t born until 1977. You see, Simone Perrotta, the Roma and Italy midfielder...
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The nightmare of Korea: Italy’s biggest World Cup humiliation, half-a-century later
“They have won! Good heavens, they have won. What is going on here? This is fantastic,” bellowed Frank Bough, with the tone of a man struggling to come to...
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