Ok friends I feel the need to preface this with the fact that I have never been a soccer fan, in fact I have never even really watched much soccer and often make it the brunt of jests and jokes. That said today was the final for the Euro Cup 2012 with Italy playing Spain for the title. Since I am currently living in Milano Italy I thought this was the best chance I would ever have to really get to experience the european futbol that I know every country outside of the USA lives and dies by.
The presence of the impending game was felt early in the day as I wandered the city, street vendors were all out hocking their wares which today consisted of Italia colored air horns, shirts, and flags. People were dressed in all red white and green, many sporting said wares and the atmosphere was alive with excitement. Upon asking where I should go to watch the game I was directed to Piazza del Duomo where everyone was going to watch the game on the big screen.
As I made my way to the Piazza I decided to purchase an Italin flag for several purposes, it helped me blend in with the locals, it kept the sun off of my already sunburnt shoulders, and would make a good memento of the occasion. I arrived about one and a half hours before the game starting and found my self in the midst of several thousand other spectators.
To kill the time I got a large beer and watched the crowd carry on in a way that I had only previously witnessed on TV. There were minor explosions, cheers and chants, everything was climbed on, and the riot police came and ordered everyone to stop climbing in the construction scaffolding around the statue. To cap it all off a flying beer bottle hit the guy next to me in the jaw and we still had like ten minutes till game time. I wondered silently to my self what I had gotten my self into.
As the game started things amazingly enough calmed down, the focus was on the game and that led to nothing but disappointment. Italy ended up losing 4 - 0 I believe though I left as it started to rain at 3 - 0. I will admit that watching the game here in that environment was far more exhilarating than any previous soccer experience I had encountered but I still just cannot really support the game. It lacks excitement to me, im sorry die hard soccer fans, I tried I really tried to like it but it's just not there. I can watch and appreciate but to seek and enjoy it is a little beyond my bounds.
That being said though if ever you as a tourist get the opportunity to witness an epic event such as what I did today don't you dare back out of it. The experience and the atmosphere that surrounded this evening were unique and a very rare life experience opportunity. To watch a whole country pour its heart out for something that it loves is well worth being a part of.
Congrats to Spain and all of their supporters on a victory well won.
-SM-
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