SSC Napoli celebrates championship – man dies from gunshot wounds
SSC Napoli fans celebrate the 1-1 during a live broadcast
Those: dpa/Andrew Medichini
SSC Napoli secures the Italian football championship. A large police presence was there to keep the expected celebrations in check, but several people were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds. A man succumbed to his injuries.
Dhe SSC Napoli is the Italian soccer champion. Coach Luciano Spalletti’s team drew 1-1 (0-1) at Udinese Calcio on Thursday evening and thus secured their third title in the club’s history in Serie A. With five games to go, Napoli are 16 points ahead of Lazio and can can therefore no longer be obtained.
The goal of the draw and their first championship since the Diego Armando Maradona era more than three decades ago came from Serie A top scorer Victor Osimhen in the 52nd minute after the visitors fell behind early on.
The southern Italians deserved the triumph with splendid and mostly sovereign performances this season, an exciting offensive with Osimhen and dribbling artist Chwitscha Kwarazchelia as well as the carefreeness of an outsider without any big stars.
After a few narrowly missed successes in recent years, Spalletti managed this time that his team did not slump over the course of the season. In the Champions League, SSC was only eliminated in the quarter-finals against AC Milan.
Coach Spalletti cried in Udine in a TV interview on DAZN when he remembered his deceased brother at the moment of triumph. Looking at the live pictures from Naples, where tens of thousands of fans were celebrating, the coach spoke of “great satisfaction”.
Exuberant party night in Naples
On Thursday, 60,000 fans watched the decisive away game at Udinese on screens in the stadium named after Maradona, before heading downtown. From all corners of the city, fans let off firework rockets into the sky, similar to midnight on New Year’s Eve. In the Piazza del Plebiscito near the port, supporters crowded, sang and celebrated, waved flags and burned flares.
Actually, the party should have started last Sunday – but because Napoli surprisingly only played 1-1 at home against Salernitana, the celebration had to be postponed by four days. Hardly anyone in Italy had doubts about the third title for Naples after 1987 and 1990 for weeks.
A large police force was to ensure that the celebrations remained peaceful. Nevertheless, incidents were soon registered: the Ansa news agency reported on a 26-year-old who died in hospital as a result of gunshot wounds. Three other people are being treated for gunshot wounds.
The police were investigating the circumstances and were initially unable to provide any information. Three other fans required treatment because they injured their hands from pyrotechnics. In Udine, after a crowd caused by the square storm, eight fans received medical attention, the prefect said.