14 posts tagged “fiorentina”

Adesso che tutto è finito...adesso che ci alziamo la mattina col sorriso e con una grande leggerezza...e andiamo lavoro più sereni...contenti e orgogliosi...adesso che possiamo tirare il fiato e un pochino  rilassarci...dopo mesi di latente tensione...è bello voltarsi e...pescare due tra i mille attimi che hanno caratterizzato questa interminabile annata...
Questa interminabile annata, iniziata nei lontani afosi pomeriggi fiorentini dell'estate scorsa, con un Toni in meno...e un Osvaldo in più...
Pablo Daniel Osvaldo...argentino, naturalizzato Italiano... Osvaldo...il ragazzo di Corvino... Osvaldo...lezioso...al limite dell'irritante a volte...mai una giocata facile...con la Ferrari nera che tutto mostra meno che l'umiltà che si addirrebbe all sua età... Osvaldo che porta sulle spalle con irriverenza il numero 9...Osvaldo cha fa la mitraglia con la stessa irriverenza con cui ha tirato il rigore a Goodison Park...Osvaldo che dice "mi sarei messo a piangere dalla gioia" dopo aver segnato in rovesciata il gol decisivo...il gol che vale una stagione...Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, 22 anni...e la piu' alta madia gol /minuti giocati della Fiorentina di quest'anno...
Due attimi ...due attimi che hanno segnato la stagione viola in modo indelebile...due attimi che a modo loro fanno parte della storia della Fiorentina...forse non di quella che si scrive sui libri...ma certamente di quella che rimane negli occhi, nel cuore e nella mente di ogni tifoso viola...due attimi di quelli da raccontare a figli...nipoti...amici...
Due attimi che in comunque hanno uno stadio...l'Olimpico di Torino...
Osvaldo che ha segnato il gol che dopo quello che Bati a Wembley ci ha fatto piu' godere negli ultimi 30 anni...al 94esimo minuto di una partita, della PARTITA ,che ci era scivolata via dopo la fiammata iniziale...in tuffo...di testa...Osvaldo che nello stesso stadio ha realizzato un gol impossibile quando la paura di veder tutto sfumare sul più bello stava iniziando ad attanagliarci ...quando il nostro sogno, covato per mesi, perso e ritrovato, stava lentamente iniziando ad assumere i contrni di un incubo...l'ennesimo...

Adesso...che tutto è finito...adesso che è tutto finito...il bello invece deve ancora iniziare...

Off to Italy again...tomorrow, early morning...hopefully...(Easyjet flight to Pisa has been has been canceled today, so touch wood...). Once again it is wedding time, "la Vale" this round...with whom I took classes and studied for 5 long years at the University...

As usual the weekend looks already pretty busy...as I said, tomorrow morning the wedding near Pisa...which is a good way also of seeing some of the guys I went to Uni with...But this is only the beginning... in the night I am gonna have a dinner with the old classmates from the high school...I am pretty excited about that...cos some of them I haven't seen for ages really...definitely not since I have moved to England...So it is indeed a good chance to catch up on things...and talk and laugh together a bit…

Sunday morning 11-a -side football match, then Fiorentina for the last match of the season...and then dinner with the guys I used to play Basketball with...over 10 years ago...And again there are some people I haven’t seen for years...for years... It is all so exciting...especially if you live far from everybody...and therefore you never really have the chance to see them... I do not what they are doing, how they are doing...but at the end of the day these are the faces I have spent long good years with…Cool...I can’t wait...!

The visit to Glasgow was good...! Maybe the match was the worst part of it...but even if it was a short visit we had really good fun...
We got to Glasgow at 4 pm ish. The city centre was busy, most of the people were showing football colors...definitely all the over 2000 people from Florence...but most of the local supporters as well...
The welcoming and the atmosphere was really cool...Rangers supporters were wishing good luck, Celtic fans instead we encouraging, (almost begging) us to beat their reveals...!!
Ibrox Park is a great stadium...it is really beautiful inside, with an amazing view of the ground...as usual in British stadia...
The walls of the stadium are all made by red bricks...The cool thing is that you can engrave your name on them for just £35..."be a part of Ibrox forever". You can write there whatever you want...your name, a phrase, some greetings...and it will be recordered forever...
We got there slightly before 6 o'clock...on time to have a walk around Ibrox, take some pictures, have a chat with some Rangers supporters and visit the official store...
We got in at 7 ish...45 minutes before the kick off. To be honest though...I was expecting local fans to be louder.True that when they started to sing it was hard to talk to the person next to you...however it was not continuosly... Goodison Park (against Everton) was much much more impressive from this point of view.
As said before the match was probably the worst part...Rangers with their ultra-defensive, anti-football tactics didn't let Fiorentina play...therefore we didn't found many spaces to create them problems... 0-0 is the worse of the good results...I am a bit disapponted we did not get an away goal...now we have to be careful in Florence. I am confident we can do it though...
After the match we say good bye to Tommy and Lorenzo and made our way back towards the city centre for another walk and a pint... Not for too long though...the alarm was set at 6 o'clock , just time for a shower and a quick breakfast...there was a plane to catch...and another long day ahead...

 

Finally I can say it loud...I was keeping it for myself, just to wait for Tommy to confirm that
he got hold of the tickets...for the UEFA Cup semifinals. It will be a quick visit to Scotland...flight to Glasgow on Thursday afternoon...football match in the night and back to Bristol on Friday early morning...ready to go straight to work...!
Jena and Franco will come along... there we will meet Tommy and Lorenzo AKA il Norfo...
Ibrox Park is one of 27 European stadia which have UEFA's 5-star rating. This enables it to host finals of the UEFA Champions League and the European Championship. It will be amazing the atmosphere there...

I can't wait... I can't wait...

As you might have seen on the side bar from some day I added the Group tab...and within the groups there is one created by myself about Fiorentina. A group is not a new blog...it is a kind of room for discussion open to everybody...
This means that everyone (provided you are registered on vox.com) can write posts, thoughts, comments, upload picture and videos there...
Since I am the host I have the rights to delete everything is not appropriate to the group. You are free to write either in Italian or English (or any other language of course). English is anyway the preferred options to allow more people to read it...to spread the word...! :)
A bright future is ahead for Fiorentina...not only within Italy...but also in Europe...let's start to add something international to our team!

My little Twingo made it...! Today just off Monmouth, South Wales, she (yes because it is a she) reached the 160000 km...amazing...!
In 11 years she brought me everywhere really...! A lot around Italy...a lot in the UK...and hopefully there is more in the future...!
I remember many great drives with her...Of course the main is the one that took me here...from Grassina to Bristol...all in a go, with no stops...23 hours and 15 minutes...to go for 1785 km across Italy, France a England...Few years before I drove to Zianl, on the Switzerland Alps; an 8 hours drive with 4 people on board and luggages for 4...The Twingo is never too small and always comfy...she is surprising every time...! Another good one was when me and my friend Antonio went up to the Abetone, 1388 m over sea level, at 2 am, in icy and snowy condition with no snow chains...crazy! And how to forget when we went to Venice to watch Fiorentina, and she almost lost the number plate, or when I took Dao for the first time to Trento and the next day we went for an amazing tour on the Dolomites, just after a massive snowfall...Stunning!
I could tell lots of stories, lots of drive...lots of little nice anecdotes from 1997 to today...most of them are in my mind anyway...and there they stay...and I will not forget...!
I love my car...I say thanks every time after a demanding trip...and she appreciates it...I think she likes me as well...and even if she doesn't say it loud I am sure sometime she thinks Cheers Drive :)

 

Alle 15 decido che e’ ora di andare…spengo il computer, via scarpe, pantaloni e camicia per far spazio a jeans, scarpe da ginnastica, maglia e felpa della viola…
Tra 4 ore e 45 si gioca Everton-Fiorentina, a Liverpool…Sono senza biglietto.
Imbocco la M5, direzione Nord. Poco meno di 3 ore dopo sono incolonnato nei pressi dello stadio…tutte le machine hanno qualcosa che accenni all’Everton…mi sento solo in terra straniera…e, avvolto dalla mentalita’ che abbiamo, anche leggermente impaurito, uncomfortable direi. Macchina con guida a sinistra e la scritta “filiale di Firenze” sulla targa. Decido di parcheggiare un po’ lontano dallo stadio… ma sfortunatamente tutti parcheggi sono per residenti…faccio allora per ritornare verso Goodison Park, e mi trovo a costeggiare un grosso edificio sulla mia sinistra… E’ Anfield Road…il tempio dei Reds…incredibilmente a meno di 500m da quello dei Blues. Emozione. Alla fine parcheggio la macchina, in un parcheggio custodito…che mi dicono essere sicuro. Da solo, a piedi mi dirigo verso lo stadio, mi faccio indicare il settore ospiti e gia’ mi sento piu’ a casa. La caccia al biglietto dura pochi minuti, un ragazzo del valdarno ne ha uno in piu’. Per la seconda volta consecutiva vedro’ la Fiorentina in una trasferta europea. Sono le 18.45 manca ancora un’ora all’inizio della partita quando squilla il telefono. Guardo il display. “John”.
John l’ho conosciuto sull’aereo che da Londra ci porto’ a Oslo 20 giorni or sono. Lui, tifosissimo del’Everton, andava a Bergen a vedere il loro sedicesimo di finale. Rispondo. Mi dice di raggiungerlo al pub dove si ritrova sempre con i suoi amici prima della partita. Sono titubante, poi decido che un’occasione del genere non mi ricapita…e mi sento che sto andando incontro ad una cosa che ricordero’ a lungo. Faccio il giro dello stadio, cammino in mezzo a miglialia di persone con vessilli dell’Everton finche’ arrivo al pub…Chiamo John…il quale si affaccia, mi vede, sorride…ed esce in strada. Abbraccione…e si entra nel pub. Sono leggermente in soggezione…non appena dentro John fa a voce alta…” Questo e’ Leo, di Firenze, tifoso della Fiorentina”. E tutti arrivano a salutarmi, darmi la mano,pacche sulle spalle, che chi parla uno storpiato italiano “Comme sta?”, “Benvenutto”. Non passa 30 secondi che gia’ avevo una pinta in mano, rigorosamente offerta dal loro. Poi mi presenta uno ad uno tutti i suoi amici, e suo figlio. Passiamo una buona mezzora a ridere e chiaccherare, mi fanno levare il giubbotto, e si fanno foto, io con la mia felpa della viola nel pub insieme a loro. Mi raccontano di Firenze…della citta’ bellissima, della serata freddissima, dello stadio, che loro non concepiscono. Sono rimasti delusi. Come dargli torto? Mi raccontano che sono 28 anni che prima della partita, prima di ogni benedetta partita loro si ritrovano in quel pub. Gli chiedo cosa pensano della partita di stasera. “Se giocate come a Firenze non vediamo palla”. Gia'...se... E poi si parla d’altro…Raggiungo anche una mezza promessa per un biglietto l’anno prossimo, magari per Everton-Liverpool…vediamo. “Basta che mi dici quando vuoi venire, il biglietto te lo trovo io”. Verso le 19.35 ci si incammina verso lo stadio. Fuori e’ ancora un formicolio di gente. Tutti hanno il loro posto, tutti entrano gli ultimi 10 minuti. Penso che forse il posto che trovero’ non sara’ il migliore, ma non importa molto. Di fronte allo stadio ci salutiamo. John mi chiede se riesco a ritrovare la macchina, se voglio che mi aspetti fuori e camminiamo assieme. Lo rassicuro. Ci scambiamo un in bocca al lupo e mi dirigo nuovamente verso il settore ospiti. Entro alle 19.40. Una bolgia infernale. L’atmosfera e’ fantastica. Trovo posto in corrispondenza della linea di fondo campo. In 5.a/6.a fila…anche fortunato penso. La partita e’ stata in sofferenza, dal primo al 90esimo minuto…2-0 Everton, supplementari…e ancora patire. Il tifo incessante e rumorossisimo dei toffees…mai sentito un tifo cosi assordante in uno stadio. Impressionante. Faceva venire i brividi, metteva in soggezione. La Fiorentina ha giocato male, e’ stata fortunata, ma ha lottato fino all’ultimo. Non era facile. E per la prima volta ho capito che i rigori non e’ solo questione di fortuna. Dopo il gol di Gravesen, Pazzini si incammina dal centro campo. Il fischi, gli ululati, i buu sono assordanti…assurdo…non so se in TV rendeva…ma ad esser li c’era, e come, da avere paura, da essere in soggezione almeno. Tiro e rete. Bravo Pazzo.
Quando Osvaldo va sul dischetto penso che possa sbagliarlo…giovane, inesperto…con tutta questa pressione…Il tutto invece si trasforma in irriverenza…Rimbomba il coro “Argentina, Argentina, Argentina…”. Osvaldo si gira, sorride e fa cenno con la mano verso i tifosi…poi si incammina verso il centrocampo…due passi…si ferma, torna indietro e abbraccia Frey. Bello. Bravo.
Il resto e’ un rigore sbagliato da loro e Santana che segna…La festa comincia, la gioia esplode… I toffees sono increduli…I viola urlano la loro gioia e sofferenza al cielo.L’abbraccio con I giocatori fantastico… I Blues escono dal campo a testa alta…tutto lo stadio applaude…prima di svuotarsi…e lasciare spazio ai cori dei viola. Guardo il telefono…uno dei tanti messaggi ancora da John. Prima dei calci di rigore mi aveva scritto “Enjoy it, it’s only a game”. Un grande. Dopo 20 minuti usciamo dall stadio…accompagnati da poliziotti a cavallo. Uno di loro di fa cenno di seguire la folla, gli dico che ho la macchina parcheggiata dall’altra parte, mi lascia passare. Saluto Fede (o Shino per chi lo conosce) e mi incammino verso la Twingo. Finisce come era iniziata…da solo, a piedi per le vie di Liverpool. Mi aspettano 350 Km di macchina e 3 ore di guida nella notte inglese…per fortuna a cuor leggero…

Here is the English Version

It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon...I decide that it is time to go, I shut down the computer, take shirt, shoes and trousers off, and wear blue jeans, trainers and my Fiorentina jersey and jumper. Fiorentina-Everton kicks off in 4h and 45 minutes, in Liverpool. I do not have a ticket.
I take the M5, northbound. 3 hours later I am stuck in the traffic...all the cars around have something that recalls Everton...I feel lonely, and bound in the Italian mentality, slight frightened...uncomfortable I'd said... Left hand drive car, and Florence number plate. I decide to park a bit far from the stadium, but unfortunately all the streets are resident only area...Therefore I decide to drive back towards Goodison Park and on the way I pass next to a massive building. It's Anfield Road, the temple of the Reds, less than 500 m from the Blues one...What an excitement...!! Finally I park where a police man told me being safe. On my own I walk towards the ground, I ask directions for the away sector, and once there straight away I feel being home...familiar with those unknown guys...Ticket hunt lasts few minutes, a guy from Valdarno has a spare one...for the second time in a row I will watch a Fiorentina away match in the UEFA Cup. It's 6.45, still 1 hour to go before the kick off. My mobile rings. I look at it, "John". I met John on the plane that from London took us to Oslo, 20 days ago. He is a big fan of Everton, and was going to Bergen to see their round of 32.I was on my way to Trondheim. I take the call. He says to join him and his mates to the pub, where they use to meet before every single match. I hesitate. Then I decide that this is an occasion that I can't miss, something that might never come back, and  going there I feel that I am about to do something that I will remember for a long time. I walk around all the stadium, walk amongst thousands of people with Everton flags and scarves...until I arrive to the pub. A quick call to John, He looks out of the window , sees me, smiles. We hug in front of the pub, and then we went back in again. I feel a bit in awe. As soon as we get in John says loud "This is Leo, from Florence, Fiorentina fan" All people cheer up, shake my hand, trying to speak Italian with me "Comme sta?", "Benvenutto". I am in from not even 30 seconds and I already have a pint, offered by them. Then John introduces me to all his friends, and his son. We spend a good half an hour, laughing and chatting. I take my coat off, and we take pictures...me...with my Fiorentina jumper in the pub with them. They told me about their trip to Florence, beautiful city, cold and wet night, and about the stadium. They don't understand how you can have some stands so far from the pitch. What could I say? They were just right. They tell me that it is 28 years that they meet there before every single match. I ask them their thoughts about the match we are going to see."If you play as in Florence we are gonna lose again". Right...just if...we talk about something else. They promise me to find a ticket for an Everton game next season. Maybe even Everton-Liverpool."Just tell me when you want to come along and I will get you a ticket!". It would be a dream. It's 7.35, we make our way towards the stadium. There are still lots of people around. Every one has his own seat. I think that I will get my place, maybe not the best one. It doesn't matter. In front of the stadium we say goodbye. John asks me if I am OK to get back to the car after the match or if I wish him to wait for me. I reassure him. We say good luck each other. I head the away sector. Get in at 7.40. The atmosphere is fantastic. Loud as hell. I found a seat with a good view. In the 5th or 6th row. I am also lucky I think. Fiorentina suffers from the first to the very last minute. 2-0 Everton, extra time...and suffering again. Toffees didn't stop to sing a single second. I was impressed, never heard something like that. Astonishing. It gave me the shivers. We all were in awe. Fiorentina played bad, was lucky, but flighted till the end. It was not easy. And for the first time I understood that penalty kicks are not only matter of being lucky. After Gravesen scored the first one for Everton, Pazzini starts to walk towards the penalty area. Birds, booes, are ridiculous...I don't know if on TV you got the idea, but being there was frightening. Pazzini scores.Well done!
When Osvaldo goes for his attempt I think he could miss it. He is young, with no experience, with all this pressure. He translates all of this in a joke. Cheeky...!! "Argentina, Argentina, Argentina..." peals out loudly. Osvaldo look towards us and smiles, making his way towards the midfield. One step, two, then he stops, comes back, hugs Frey. Great. Well done! A penalty missed by Everton, and Santana that scores... Celebrations start, joy explodes.Toffees are incredulous. We sing our joy. The hug with players is amazing. Blues get off the pitch head-high, the whole stadium claps the hands, before emptying out leaving room for Fiorentina's songs. I look at my mobile. One of the texts I got, again from John. Before penalties kick he wrote "Enjoy it, it’s only a game”. What a nice guy! 20 minutes later we get off the ground, walked by policemen mounted on horses. One of them tell me to follow the stream. I reply that my car is on the other direction. He lets me go. I say goodbye to Federico, and make my way towards the Twingo. It ends as it started. On my own, walking through Liverpool's streets. 350 Km and 3 hours driving ahead in the English night...fortunately with a light heart...

A day to remember for ever...!!!!!

 

 

So...with the victory tonight, Rosenborg is archived...Now it is time to think about Everton...which will be a really tough one...! First leg in Florence, second in Liverpool...Be there is a MUST...that's the first time Fiorentina plays in England since I moved here...and it will be only few days before my birthday... actually my 30th birthday... If anyone wants to come along please get in touch... :)
Other than that...back to Bristol and back to the routine...busy week...plenty of interesting stuff...the weekly football match...an annoying sore throat and lots of resting...I really needed it...