Please, let's not say anymore that Naples is the most anarchic city in Italy. Let's go no further, out of respect for the millions of Neapolitans who experience the days of the third championship as the reward of a serious and constant undertaking. Lasted months. If the anarchic character had prevailed (but is there really?) even in football and in the club that represents the blue colours, we would not be able to write this article. With many days to spare, Napoli - drawing 1 to 1 in Udine - won their third trophy of the Serie A championship. It was methodical work, on the pitch and in the locker room. The city, as always everywhere in the world, was divided between those who said "it's a good year" and those who repeated old clichés: "those from the North won't let us win". The team has few true Neapolitan footballers, but those who arrived from afar, on and off the pitch, were very serious.
The 2023 Scudetto is celebration and repentance at the same time. Party, because all the problems and dramas that afflict the city are forgotten. Those are not resolved in a short time and the Neapolitans are wise again. You scam them once, twice, not the third time. Even if you wear an orange bandana to go up to City Hall. It is repentance, because the city returns to the spotlight of the world for eleven boys chasing a ball, rather than for being modern, industrious, culturally alive, without blemishes, in the manner of the politically correct. But Neapolitans don't like stereotypes. They have always been original and therefore modern, hardworking and alive more than many others. The party is a party, it is said by the Romans (understood as ancient Rome). In feriae publicae there were sacrifices and visits to temples. The Maradona stadium in Fuorigrotta is a pagan temple. Be careful, because the other is the Duomo's Saint Gennaro.
This time the trophy is collective. The team of Aurelio De Laurentiis he has players that the whole world envies right now. Russian sheikhs and tycoons, owners of other clubs would go crazy (in euros, of course) to have some talent in their retirement that has made Naples happy. A collective championship in the sense of "more than one". Sure, because the first two championships (1986/'87 and 1989/'90) had only one name: Diego Armando Maradona. The strongest of all, anarchist in his own way, juggler and disheveled that Naples loved, perhaps because he was born on the other side of the world by mistake. The pilgrimage of Neapolitans and tourists in front of Diego's murals and statues has never stopped. But since January, when the victories of the 2022/23 Italian Championship began to feel victorious - perhaps even successes in the Champions League - anarchy (but is there really?) has given way to moderation, satisfaction, pride, joy. There have been some episodes related to extreme cheering and there will still be. Nobody really wants that. But does it only happen in Naples? The fans that attacked at the end of 2022 Luciano Spalletti, Aurelio De Laurentiis, Cristiano Giuntoli sporting director, due to some market choices, had to recognize that they were doing well. The city overrun by tourists does not care about business of t-shirts, banners, scarves, flags, manufactured "tax free" for a turnover estimated at over 3 million euros. Società Calcio Napoli has announced legal action against counterfeit merchandising. But, go stop the stalls in Naples as in Salerno, Caserta, Sorrento, Capri, despite the fact that the system leads in one way or another to the world of illegality.
The festivities and decorations in the neighborhoods and throughout Campania have brought people here even from outside Italy. Clubs organized and simple (so to speak) emigrants, children and grandchildren of emigrants. An intergenerational pride that can only be explained why “o' ball“ in Naples it is a unique disease that gives health rather than taking it away. Mayor Gaetano Manfredi, of which it was said of a passion for the colors of Juventus, lights up the city in blue in agreement with the Naples football club. The police are alerted to prevent any accident. The large red zone for traffic has been renamed blue area. The hope is that the sense of discipline demonstrated so far continues to prevail. It doesn't take much to make the whole world tell you that in Naples you run a red light, that the police and traffic police cannot be seen, that rubbish and hanging clothes are the face of the city, that chaos is natural. (Ultra)common places. Now the championship is on the scene. Anarchy? What is a football team?
