Roma Game!

This Sunday, I went with 9 other people from my house to Stadio Olimpico to watch some Roma football.  I am a big football fan and I was very much looking forward to going to a game sometime during the semester.  And let me tell you, the experience was incredible.  It was truly a great taste of Roman life and I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.  Paying only 17 euro for tickets, we sat right behind the goal about 23 rows up.  And while the angle wasn't the best, we were right in the heart of the more tame cheering section.  The south side of the stadium is the crazy part, but we were on the north side, where the dedicated, passionate, but not violent, fans sit.  And it was great.  We got there about 10 minutes before the game and the fans were already cheering, clapping, and waving their flags.  There was so much passion from the fans, you could tell that football is more than just a sport in Italy.  But easily the highlight of the pregame ritual of singing the Roma song.  While I wish that I knew the song before going to the game, I have listened to this quite a few times since the game.  Every single person in that stadium knew it and it is one of the greatest football traditions out there.

When the game started, it was just awesome.  We were playing Pescara, which is the worst team in the league.  Because they suck so much, there were only like 20 Pescara fans there, but they had their own section pretty close to us.  And with them being close to us, I received an answer to a question I was kind of wondering about.  Is "the finger" a real thing here?  Or is that just America?  And let me tell you, it is alive and well in Italy.  Pescara shockingly scored first, so they whole stadium was a bit on edge.  But throughout the course of the game I noticed many differences between European sports fans and American sports fans.  First off, in the stadium, there is no PA noise or music during the game.  It is just the fans and the game, which I really enjoyed.  And because there is constant action, we were never bored.  There are no timeouts, commercial breaks, or anything.  Also, you don't boo in Italy, you whistle/hiss.  It's kinda strange, but hey, that's what they do.  Also, every single person in the stadium is invested in the game.  I was sitting by some kids and they were going nuts.  They were following everything, calling fouls for the ref, and knew every single player.  In the second half, Roma tied it at 1, so the whole second half, we were on the edge of our seats.  But the highlight of the 2nd half was when Michael Bradley went in.  He is the only American on the team, and the kids next to me definitely knew by this point that I was American.  It was hilarious.  And anytime he would do something, we would get excited.  As time was winding down, Roma kept on getting decent shots on goal, but nothing was going in.  So after 90 minutes, the game ended in a tie.  Which is basically the worst thing possible.  With a loss, you can be angry.  But with a tie, it's like "meh."  Considering Pescara had not beaten, or even tied, anyone for the last 14 games, it was a bad day to be Roma.  But overall, I had a great time.  I was so happy that I went to the game at this point in the semester because I understand Italian culture more now then when I got here in February.  And to put it simply, everything made sense.  Everything that I had experienced walking through the streets, talking to random Romans, eating in restaurants, it was all summarized here during the game.  It was just a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed my time.  This was definitely one of the non-religious highlights of the semester and it was awesome to be able to experience the beautiful game in Rome first hand. 

Singing the Roma Song

Curva Sud, home of the diehard fans.  Notice the smoke bombs....  And the flags never stopped waving

Pescara fans.  And they had triple the security up there later during the game

#4 - The American, Bradley!  When he kicked the ball, I'm pretty sure I heard the word "freedom"