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Dec 31,2006 - Jan7,2006 |
Toronto is green, white and red
St. Clair Avenue West, College and Market Lane show their love for Azzurri
By Francesco Rondino
Originally Published: 2006-06-18
Hundreds, thousands of Italian flags and "Azzurri" tee shirts. Toronto - just like Vaughan, Hamilton, Montréal and so on - changed its face Monday. Italians re-conquered the land where they live, the one they love, without ever forgetting their roots.
The invasion was peaceful but unstoppable. Twice the ball inflated Ghana's net, twice yells of joy, relief, pride resounded through our streets... and it was just Ghana, only the first match.
Imagine what can happen Saturday if we (or better, they, our Azzurri Gladiators) "teach a lesson" to Bruce Arena and the Americans, who in the last few weeks have made burning comments about Italian players, calling them "easy to defeat", simply forgetting decades of history of calcio ("soccer" for them, "football" for the Brits).
The pride, coloured by the vivid blue we love to call azzurro, exploded Monday following a period of uneasiness: the "soccergate" scandal, the latest injuries, the fears that a World Cup strongly desired and potentially winnable might instead slip from us, like four years ago in Japan and Korea. Italians are in Germany to win, "to rule the game and the world" as British fans love to sing in the stadiums.
In 2006, Italians sing a new hymn, one that goes "Po, popopo, popooo, poooo", heard for the first time at the Roma-Lazio derby at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome; Monday people chanted it loud on College, St. Clair West and Market Lane.
Here is how everything started.
2 pm. On College, the atmosphere is tense as for a great occasion, bars and restaurants are decorated for a party, but a surreal quiet prevails. After a while, the first Italians show up... today, they are going to paint Toronto blue.
Mercedes and BMWs unload Bay Street managers. Jackets and ties are replaced by blue jerseys taken from car trunks. The change of clothes also entails a change in mindset.
A cabrio Mustang goes by with stereo blaring... "Po, popopo, popooo, poooo"; the tune of the Roman derby becomes the Italian anthem in Toronto. In the background, the theme from The Godfather can be heard coming from the MVP music store... tension thickens.
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