A good deal of tension envelops the entire area surrounding the stadium Olympic already several hours before kick-off. Compared to other derbies of the recent past, there is a more lively atmosphere around what has become a schizophrenic game to say the least, between raving appeals from televisions and newspapers in the days preceding it, and imaginative reconstructions in the following week by pennivendoli in need of a few moments of fame, as often happens at the expense of the fans.
Then there are social media, which hanged the derby on a cross by piercing her in the side like Jesus Christ hadn’t either. Without wanting to fall into petty “boomerism”, however, it is worth emphasizing how by now the massive, delatory and improper use of this medium has shifted attention more towards everything that is considered subject to morality or censorship, rather than on the chromatic, characteristic and participatory. And especially on days like these, whenOlympic there was an air of old derbies, it’s really a shame. Over the years, steps have already been taken to dismantle part of that fascination that the challenge between the two Capitoline cities has always exercised, killing the whole ritual of banners, which made it pleasant to go to the stands well in advance to enjoy a show mixed between Roman irony, messages of purely ultras mold and some vulgar invective, which then perfectly reverberates the city’s “malice” applied to football.
Thus, while for a week we read about interweavings (some of them really improbable) between the Roman and foreign fans – which according to someone would have descended on the capital in the Landsknecht style – and while at the media level we enjoyed throwing fuel on the fire, not understanding how much this leads to an exasperation of spirits both on the part of the fans and of those called upon to manage public order, the expectation for the challenge in parallel grew. Once the hangover (Roma side) and the disappointment (Lazio side) for the respective European events have been sobered up, the concentration has gradually shifted to the match which in these parts can be worth a good part of the season. And that for a Sunday it blocks everything and everyone.
A bit like traffic jams on the Lungotevere, with thousands of agents called to watch over the flow of fans. In support of what has just been written, the attitude of some boys in uniform should be stigmatized, perhaps too eager to fight (or use truncheons) to contain circumscribed tensions, all in all manageable. But, as mentioned, this is the result of what is sown during the week in the media. The fuse that lights up and threatens to detonate a defuseable device. By now the way of organizing major events in Italy focuses only on two key points: bans and repression. And you can’t get out of here, so much has been allowed and instilled in the minds of Police Headquarters and Prefectures. Moreover, without wanting to recall Pasolini’s rhetoric on Valle Giulia, those who remain to act as a barrier to these wicked policies are the cops rather than the graduated officials, mere unskilled workers sent into jeopardy without logic or preparation. The recent events in Naples are a shining example of this. If they went there to manage public order, leaving the bubble in which they live, perhaps they would better understand the futility (if not downright dangerous) of their choices.
Returning to today’s challenge: as also happened in the last derby games, the stadium records the sold out. Good news after a few years in which even the derby had become subject to that departure from the stadiums which has now been going on for at least three decades. It is played at the home of a Lazio team that is looking for a second consecutive win, after the 1-0 draw in the first leg. For the occasion, the Curva Nord issued a press release inviting everyone to bring a flag with the club’s traditional colours: white and light blue. The resulting effect – together with the two scarves made over the course of the 90′ – is really very successful, referring to those wonderful 70s flags with which the Olimpico used to dress. In particular, the large amount of flags reminds me of one of the most famous photos in Lazio’s football history, that of May 12, 1974. The date in which, by defeating Foggia, the Maestrelli gang conquered the first tricolor in its history. In a stadium, to be precise, flagged from top to bottom. Over the years I admit that I appreciate more and more the essential elements of Italian cheering, such as scarves, smoke bombs, flags and banners. On some occasions I find them even more beautiful than the choreographies made with the compass that are so popular nowadays.
Away derby, at least according to myself, always means having some extra motivation. Both because you find yourself outnumbered, in the presence of your eternal rivals, and because you are aware of having to give more than usual to be heard and honor your colours. In fact, the Roma fans must also see it in this key, compacting themselves into a nice block capable of involving Sud, Distinti and a part of Monte Mario where the boys who generally occupy the parterre of the Tribuna Tevere are positioned, who this afternoon they stand out for the warm climate created within a sector generally intended for the colder and more affluent public. Right from the start, the Giallorossi showed excellent confidence with pyrotechnics, finally creating a “spontaneous” smoke as the two teams entered the field. Several smokes and a few torches also rain down on the tartan, sending the mind back to sweet memories of the past, when the Capitoline derby represented a truly unique show from this point of view. But in these dark times, where lighting a torch is equivalent to carrying out a robbery, seeing dense colored smoke rising from the sectors takes on an even more important value. As I often say, pyrotechnics is perhaps the last act of true rebellion that curves can stage. Especially in categories like Serie A.
It may also be for this reason that the Rome Derby is often condemned and stigmatized. Because in his soul he hasn’t yet bowed to the commercial logic of other derbies and before, during and after you can still breathe a primordial air. Not totally conciliatory towards the show business of the ball.
At the entrance of the teams, the North drops her choreography, choosing Shakespeare’s Henry V and in particular the speech on San Crispino’s day, when the English had the better of the French army. “No my dear cousin. If we are destined to die, we are already more than enough in number; and if we live, the less we are, the greater will be our share of glory. In the name of God, please don’t desire a single man more.” It is a part of the same that appears in the distinguished Monte Mario side, completed by “We few, we happy few, we handful of brothers” exposed along the window of the curve.
Mention also for the Tiber, which for some years now can count on a significant participation of an ultras nature. Many banners, some torches, scarves and many provocations to the neighbors, also through the display of the classic and immortal bananas. If the derbies with the Tiber divided in half and the scene of scuffles are far away, certainly there is no shortage of skirmishes with the nearby Distino Sud, which repeatedly responds to provocations, even exchanging some colored smoke bombs and making the climate fiery. Worthy of a Roman derby.
A dispute that is inevitably ignited also by the double provocation from Lazio on the recent events involving i Fedayn. In the North the old banner makes its reappearance quadrarowhich from memory was not brought to theOlympic at least since the first half of the 1990s. While in the Tiber a drawing portraying some people hidden behind bushes peeps out and is turned towards the Curva Sud.
The Romanists instead provoke the neighbors by recalling their recent exit from the Conference at the hands of the Dutch of AZ Alkmaar and launching various invectives of a purely ultras matrix against the North and the Tiber.
Typhoid chapter: I think a fair division should be made. The Lazio public is certainly more colourful, for all the reasons listed above, undoubtedly offering a good singing test, but struggling a bit to involve the highest part of the sector, while the Romanist one does a little better in this point, perhaps thanks to that feeling of away. In particular, the support after the game was lost is very appreciable, with the new chorus on the notes of “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel which proves to be an effective antidote to the disappointment of defeat.
With Roma reduced to ten men for over an hour – due to a naive expulsion of Ibañez, who had already given the opponents the goal in the first leg – in the end it was a goal by Zaccagni that gave the three points to Sarri’s men . Goal that obviously makes the slice of the stadium destined for the Lazio players explode with joy, which takes place in one of those beautiful and heartfelt celebrations typical of this match, then coloring the sectors with various torches and some smoke bombs. At the final whistle there was an ovation of joy on the blue and white side, while the South proudly continued to sing.
The last snapshot of the derby is still the flagged white and blue brand. A sea of flags which, in contrast with those still standing and waving of the Romanists, consign this challenge to the annals, whose folkloristic and emotional value should be remembered from time to time. Instead of fomenting only and exclusively controversy and unfounded fears. Or at least manageable.
As night falls, the crowds disperse around the stadium, regaining their way home. Some surmounted by the disappointment of the defeat, others euphoric for having won two derbies in a row and being able to enjoy them until next season. It remains one of the truest and most authentic matches in our top division, a day which – although not comparable to those of many years ago – still has the flavor of that Italy which throbs around football and cancels the entire Sunday side dish to throw itself into and heart in the ball. A synergy that in Rome – like it or not – continues to distinguish the fabric of a perhaps provincial city, but tremendously in love with its teams.
Simone Meloni
For the last four photos we thank www.asromaultras.org