From the narrow alleys to the balconies, the city of Naples is covered in blue, the color of its team, which is approaching its third title of Italian champion, the long-awaited “Scudetto”.
With eight rounds to go, the Neapolitans have a solid 14-point lead over second place Lazio. The title would be historic for the club, since it has not been won since 1990 when it was led on the field by the legendary Argentine Diego Maradona, whom the city reveres to this day, giving him an aura of sanctity.
In the Spanish Quarter (Quartieri Spagnoli), a labyrinth of alleys in the center of the city where the heart of the Neapolitan people beats, the devotion is greater for the team commanded in the attack by the Nigerian Victor Osimhen.
🔥 Work hard
💙 #Go Napoli forever #TuttoPerLei pic.twitter.com/Q5OwzOBiPC
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) April 21, 2023
In Spaccanapoli, the street that literally “cuts” the city in two, and in Via Toledo, the commercial artery, the colors of the Napoli on shirts and streamers occupy the entire field of vision.
On the top floor of a building, a resident decorated its four balconies with pictures of Napoli players.
Traders are not far behind and have also joined the ‘azzurra’ wave. This is the case of Antonio Coppola, a baker in the historic center, who makes and sells blue bread decorated with Napoli’s ‘N’ at each club game.
“I live for Napoli, it’s my passion, so I had the idea of creating a bread in his honor (…) for my ‘tifosi’ customers”, explains the 37-year-old man, who managed to find a dye among his suppliers food that resists cooking perfectly.
And his initiative caused a sensation among his clients: “Everything related to the club works well in Naples nowadays”.
Salvatore Russo, who runs a tattoo parlor on Via Toledo, also contributed his grain of sand with a shield commemorating the club’s third ‘Scudetto’. “On January 30th, I decided to put superstition aside and tattoo it,” he told AFP in his living room, in front of a portrait of Diego Maradona crowned by a crucifix.
Maradona and San Gennaro
“The players have sewn it on their shirt, I sewed it on my skin”, says this Neapolitan who was born about twenty meters from the immense fresco that represents Maradona in the heart of the Spanish neighborhoods. He says he has already done about thirty of these tattoos.
Antonio Cardone, Salvatore’s client, also leaves no room for pessimism. The third title “we almost won it. The fourth, I hope it comes soon because I’m already 56 years old”, he jokes.
In addition to Napoli’s shield, he engraves the dates of the three titles on Antonio’s skin, which also speaks of the importance of Maradona: “For us he is an idol: first San Gennaro and then Maradona”, he says, referring to the patron saint of Naples, object of great veneration.
🏋️ ♂️ Captain ©️
💙 #Go Napoli forever pic.twitter.com/8od0NhHRfm
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) April 21, 2023
In this city where misery and unemployment coexist with the mafia, the passion for football transcends generations and social classes: lawyer Eugenio Salzano, fresh out of court, does not hesitate to open his shirt to show his Napoli-inspired tattoos.
On the day of the title, “you’ll realize what it’s like to celebrate in Naples (…) It’s crazy!”, promises the forty-year-old, who follows all the games as a partner.
Vesuvius, whose majestic silhouette dominates the Bay of Naples, is also omnipresent: “If it erupts, we expect it to spit tricolor lava” in the colors of the Italian flag, he adds, laughing.
Not even Tuesday’s elimination in the Champions League quarter-finals against Milan cooled the ‘tifosi’ spirit.
“Elimination doesn’t change anything (…). We’re going to look forward to winning the ‘Sudetto'”, says Vincenzo Celentano, 47 years old, another faithful regular at the Diego Maradona stadium. “Naples is always Naples (…) it is more and more beautiful, even in less fortunate moments”.
This analysis is shared by a taxi driver, an infallible thermometer of popular sentiment: “We have a 22-point advantage over Milan in the championship, that’s what counts. It’s what shows that we’re the strongest”, proclaims Giuseppe de Bernardo, from 47 years.
🎶 I’ll be with you…
💙 #Go Napoli forever #TuttoPerLei pic.twitter.com/oFm1NIu9KW
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) April 18, 2023
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
