paolo ghisoni

N.5/2000

Paolo Ghisoni

Lazio, a title arrived unexpectedly For once, even those who do not believe in fate, in a supreme “corrector” able to offer the same opportunities to everybody, had to yield before the facts. What risked of becoming another championship full of resentment and suspicions, had instead a final not even the best thriller writer would have been able to invent. Lazio is the champion of Italy for the second time in its history, 26 years after the first success that coincided with the day when Italians were called to vote in the historic referendum on divorce. The 1999-2000 season really risked of creating a lot of difficulties to the Federation, clubs and players alike. The final act, with Lazio's triumph, has reduced almost everybody to silence. But it should not be forgotten that only a week before Cragnotti himself, Lazio's president, protested for another scandal involving the supposed bosses of football. The incredible defeat suffered from Juventus in Perugia at the last round seems to have had a tranquillizing effect on an environment that was on the verge of collective hysteria. In fact, there was not a single Sunday without the protests by some clubs for some hypothetical damage caused by wrong arbitration. Thus the playground had really become an irritating pretext for a number of typically Italian scuffles. The momentary downpour (it lasted only half an hour) that hit the Umbrian city during the Perugia-Juventus match and the goal made by Calori, which cost Juventus the title, seem to have washed down and purified all at once an environment that for many means power, hidden agreements or other similar dirty tricks. Considering that Lazio has really deserved the title thanks to the willpower shown by its players, even when Juventus seemed to have won, it should also be said that after a season like this maybe the best conclusion for both teams would have been the play-off. While Eriksson no longer hoped to win the title, on the other hand Ancelotti would have never thought to lose it, given the good lead its team had only a few matches from the end of the championship. Yet, Italian sport lovers were, and still remain, split into two sides, but now roles are exchanged. Those who were ready to celebrate felt the bitterness of those who think of having been robbed of something they deserved. Incredulous Lazio and Juventus supporters have thus lived through the last endless minutes of a season that a hand from above seemed to drive with the aim of protracting sensations and fears. In the Perugia stadium players had to wait for 70 minutes before the match could start again. The two matches should have started simultaneously, and instead the afternoon events turned into a sort of comic and dramatic soap opera that ended with Lazio victory. In the end, it is Juventus that could complain for a situation that was not certainly easy from a psychological viewpoint: indeed, the club put at stake the whole season in only 45 minutes playing on an unplayable ground. Yet, I still believe that this destiny revenge could end in a better way: without complaints or after-effects, without bursts of joy or despair, with the two teams having the same points: the play-off would have chosen the winner. Thus the best team would have won through a play-off that would have left no room for any complaints on behalf of losers.