Today I went to see Napoli play their last match this season. The thought of going was a bit scary at first, especially after seeing Danny Dyer do his episode on the mad Italian football in "The Real Football Factories", where you see fans throwing a moped from the top tier of the stadium I was about to visit. My first question was, how the hell did they manage to get a moped inside the stadium without security even noticing.
So I was going to watch football with nerves and slight fear. But once I got on the coach with all the other fans, the feeling changed to happiness and excitement. There were children and young mums.
We went for lunch with a group of lad's and our friend that took us along with him bought me a Napoli headscarf and made me fit in right away. We had pizza's and drank beer, all happy. From the restaurant you could here the cherring, whistling and chanting and it was incredible to hear such an atmosphere. I know this happens in the UK too, but unfortunately I haven't had the chance to go to any games, and I have been to see Barcelona FC play a number of times but the atmospohere has never been like this. Normally people are sitting down, eating their sunflower seeds and you may here a round of applause when a free kick or penalty is about to take place.
This was different.... and a positive one indeed.
Whilst the game was on I realised that football is a sport where it shows us united. It doesn't matter if the game is important or not. Even people who don't like football may enjoy it and unite once in their lives, if it is for a world cup or a Euro cup league. We unite for 90 mins.
Putting the hooliganism and any violence a side, football can actually be something peaceful.
I don't know if many people share this idea, but it's nice to think of it this way. We humans can be all friends but we always have to have a side we hate (that is the only downer)...
The game ended well, thank god! Everyone was dancing and standing on their chairs cheering on the team whilst they passed by waving goodbye...
I had a great experience, although I do wonder why the hell does a stadium have shower looking holes in the floor which they call the "ladies toilet" when the team itself earns a lot more than any one of us that pay for a ticket?
Presenting the two teams, hear the jeering at the other team....? In the video you will see smoke, this is a firework the Napoli fans threw at the other fans!
All the team players being announced!
Napoli just scored, and the scorer came right over to us!! Here the fans go crazy...
After the match the whole team go round the pitch waving to the fans....
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