Naples (AFP)
“Napoli is the champion of Italy”… a phrase that is frequently repeated in the bustling Spanish neighborhood, near a giant mural of Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona, as well as in front of the stadium that bears his name, as the dream of the “Scudetto” grows in Naples between a belief in “myth” and a desire for “Revenge” from the richer north.
With a new victory on Sunday over Roma (2-1), Napoli is close to the first title in the Italian League in more than three decades, after two titles whose architect was in 1987 and 1990. Maradona, whose name and image in the number 10 shirt invade all over Naples.
Mirko Brandini, 18, who came from Tuscany with his two friends to follow the “important” victory over the capital club, says: “We are thirteen points ahead of the second-place (Inter). Now we can only lose with our mistakes, everything is in our hands.
The three friends, dressed in a Neapolitan shawl, take a long walk around the stadium, which was named after Maradona after his death in 2020, to enjoy the city’s euphoria.
Enthusiasm has increased dramatically since the wonderful victory over Juventus (5-1) on January 13, and it is a decisive match in the eyes of many fans, but no one will tell you that the title is settled, and that the green, white and red logo of the champion has already been sewn on the shirts. Naples.
For his part, Pascal Esposito considers that “for us, winning is difficult for economic, social, political and cultural reasons.”
Giuseppe Bruscolotti was on the pitch, alongside Maradona, when Napoli won their first league title.
The 71-year-old former defender asserts, “The match was different, the players are different, there can be no resemblance to the current team. The important thing is that everyone creates their own story.”
And he adds about coach Luciano Spalletti’s team, “We are part of history, but they also, with their goals, enter it. There is only the title left for the final entry.” He said, “Napoli will be champions: History says that the club that scores a lot of points in the first leg will always win.”
Daniele Bellini, the official announcer for Maradona Stadium, also dreams inside the “Ham” stadium in all matches.
He says that «in the eighties, I was five or six years old when Maradona won the first scudetto, and eight or nine years old when he won the second… We are living a dream, and we hope that we will not wake up before June!».
Should the title be won, the Awakening will be explosive, with plenty of pyrotechnics and a local speciality.
And the students, Felice de Simone and Francesco Bovenzi (18 years old), consider that “if we win, the celebrations will continue for at least a year… There will be great chaos here!”