Tour del Calcio (part V: Fiorentina v Milan)

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Fiorentina v Milan

In planning our trip to Europe I was hoping to see AC Milan play at home, being one of my favourite clubs since their dominance in the mid to late 80s with the Dutch masters of van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard in the team. Fixtures would not permit seeing such a game, so when our touring plans changed from Siena to Florence, it was with great satisfaction to note AC Milan were playing away to Fiorentina. While I am an AC Milan fan, I could not find it in myself to support the away team, so we went on a bit of a spending spree buying some merchandise and other things purple. In the end the night was turning cold so unless you wore a violet jacket, no one really could see your colours.

Some words from a few new fans…



Oliver:

I liked sitting down and watching the game. I liked the popcorn. I liked shouting with the fans.



Zara:

At first I thought the soccer was going to be really boring but it was not really boring it was really fun. The team we went for was Firenze which is Italian for Florence. And the other team was called AC Milan. They are considered 1 of the best teams in the world. It turned out to be a draw. When we went to the stadium we took a bus about 7.50. The game started at 9.00 and it finished at 11.00. We went home. It is a ten min bus or taxi to our apartment but it is a 45minute walk. We took the walk. Our seats were nearly up the top mum did not think they were that close to the top. For the first half of the game we sat and jumped and cheered and booed in our normal seats. And for the other half we stood up the top. It did not seem like that long a game. We had popcorn in there � = that is meant tot be a frowning face because I do not like popcorn without butter but luckily it had butter in it we did not tell jo that. At the very start dad got us coke well sort of he got us water we all thought it was coke but so we drank it and I thought it was very weak coke but than I realised it was water. Jo said the playes were sexy.



Bella:

It was soooooooooooooooooooooooo awesome. The best part about it was when the crowd jump and make the wave out of the jumping. I don’t write much so that is it. BYE!!!!





Josie:

56 and 15: favourite players in Florence soccer team. I liked the whole atmosphere in the game. Flags were flying everywhere, shouting from the stands, clapping and everything. Good game. Everything was amazing. And so were the players especially 56 and 15. We decided to go for Fiorentina. It was A.C Milan V.S Fiorentina. It kicked off about 9:00 at night and finished at 11:00 pm. It was 0-0. 2^nd soccer game ever live. We started jumping up and down off our seats when something amazing happened or when we really needed to cheer on the team. A.C Milan did play a lot better than Florence. We may have gone for ac Milan but it is nice to go for the home team you are actually in. the game finished pretty well even though no one did score a goal. A lot of really smexy players were playing. That’s one of the reasons I liked them and plus they played pretty well.





Hamish:

I love watching little towns in one of the big leagues compete because they have the best atmosphere out of all the teams in the league. I think this game was amazing because I saw fully grown adults having a play fight and others just actually taking it serious. But that’s not the main part of the day. The main part of the day was the football, and that was amazing, all the people cheering, jumping up and down and just having fun. Oliver was getting into it like anyone else. Jumping up and having the time of his life. We all had fun and until we get to Spain, we won’t get to see a single game on T.V. or out live so until then farewell.



Alex:

As a soccer widow I did consider sending the husband and kids while I found myself a quiet little spot to have a massage, drink, silence… but that would be letting the side down, so off I went to see a bunch of Italian men kick a round ball from one end of the park to another! Yes the game was good and the quality an improvement to what I would normally see but I have to agree with Jo most of the entertainment on field came from those “smexy” Italians. Off the field the crowd made the night, their passion for the game and the players is real and heartfelt. Must say some of the more passionate reactions were from the females in the crowd. All in all a great night and I will go and see another game in Spain even if it is only to compare the smexy players.



Ian:

I think Oliver was a bit confused that we were not watching the game on the TV. I guess that is all he has seen of football to date – his dad and brother as two couch potatoes somehow communicating to the referee and players through the televisual medium.

Bella seemed to be disappointed in the seats; not the position of the seating but moreso the lack of comfort and lack of personal space. But that’s Bella. By the second half she was getting into it.

Zara was caught up in the atmosphere. The claustrophobic noise, the flares, the movement of fans as one organism and the passion of the most nearest fans; oh yes and the popcorn apparently.

Jo, having already witnessed a professional match in Glasgow, was not new to the experience. The late 9pm kick-off, the exotic Italians, and the PG-rating of the language (that she could understand) would have made it a completely different experience for her.

Hamish enjoyed the football and witnessed the difference in playing styles between the Italian Serie A and the Scottish Premier League. The 0-0 score says it all. That is not to say it was a dull game; the football was slick and thoughtful. One main trait that stood out was the quality of defending – something that the Italians have been the master of for decades. The great il rossoneri could not find a way to penetrate the defence of il violas. Even Abromovich, the Swedish international, could not score. He stood out as a class above the rest and, as the cliché goes, it was completely different watching him play in real life than on the box at home. While I was previously aware of his height seeing him beside the other players made me notice his huge frame. And yet while he was difficult to shrug off he was also grace personified. As Hamish and I expected, the longer the game went on the less likely Milan were going to score regardless of their dominance. In the last ten minutes Fiorentina could have stolen the match if not for a few near misses.

Alex enjoyed being dragged along. It was my intention to expose the family to top level football, not just for the quality of play but just as much for the atmosphere. This game did not disappoint. The atmosphere outside the stadium was palpable. There was a moment where in attempting to get to the other side of the stadia to our gate, we were channelled with the crowd through a small gap in the fence about three people wide while negotiating a crowd coming the opposite direction. I am sure it is something the general crowd was used to but it was not pleasant to us Tassy country folk. While nothing happened, the Safety was off all of my senses in fear of being funnelled like minced meat. It might be overdramatic, but flashes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 came to mind. The helplessness then must have been utterly horrific. I hope this is the closest I come. The atmosphere inside the stadium was even more, well, atmospheric. At a glance, given the passion of the crowd, you could be forgiven for thinking the stadium was full of angry young men. Nothing could be further from the truth. All ages, from young kids being carried as if they had no legs to old men with three legs. All sexes, from the cigar smokin’ leather jacket clad men to the simply smokin’ signoras. One of the sights that I will not forget is the middle aged woman at the top of the terrace shouting out at her players for a lapse in quality she obviously has become accustomed to. I bought Alex and myself a beer midway through the first half. Not because I had a thirst, but because I could. After being a spectator in Scotland where not one drop of alcohol was sold, I just had to have a beer. As we have come to observe, there is little disrespect of alcohol in Italy. I was able to purchase my two beers almost at will, while the queue for the espresso was long and slow. The fans are there seriously to enjoy the spectacle not to become a spectacle.

One of my pet hates is seeing so-called fans leaving the stadium early before the final whistle in the hope of getting away before the masses. I was almost a hypocrite as I was tempted to leave during injury time, but in the end we hung on as did most of the other 23,000 fans. I’m not being very PC, but it was a comical sight when there was a wave of handicapped fans leave a few minutes before to their handicapped cars in their handicapped spaces. We then walked and walked and walked. We were hoping to come across an empty cab but none appeared, so we ended up walking 45 min up to our home in the Fiorentine Hills. Not one whine from any of the kids (or parents).


Ian and the violet gang

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Comments

[John Cannon]

Staying Posted
Hi Big Bro and Clan. Awesome way for me to keep an eye on your travels. Yankee Cannons send their love to the Tassie Cannons.