| > | | | | waiting for the training camp to start, and the TV only |
| The passion that Italians have for soccer never stops. | | | | broadcasts more or less verified transfer market |
| Transfer market, summer test matches and training | | | | news. Italians do not detoxify from soccer even on |
| camps before the beginning of the Italian league: Italy | | | | holiday, and even when matches —at least the |
| makes a soccer immersion even in summer. | | | | important ones- are over, they always find something |
| Normal 0 14 false false false IT X-NONE X-NONE | | | | to hold onto: a test match, an indiscretion about the |
| * Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable | | | | club, any kind of news which can prevent them from |
| {mso-style-name:"Tabella normale"; | | | | disconnecting from their favourite sport. Also the front |
| mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; | | | | page of sport newspapers, in summer, do not stop |
| mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; | | | | dealing with soccer, succeeding in filling columns over |
| mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; | | | | columns about soccer, sometimes to the detriment of |
| mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; | | | | some other less popular sport. This incapacity of |
| mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; | | | | disconnecting from soccer is even stranger if you |
| mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; | | | | consider that with league matches, minor leagues, |
| mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; | | | | Europa and Champions League, soccer is played, and |
| mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; | | | | above all discussed, throughout the week, and if you |
| font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; | | | | also consider that the period of inactivity is not very |
| mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; | | | | long: with the play-off and the play-out matches of the |
| mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; | | | | minor leagues, and the European leagues preliminaries, |
| mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; | | | | people do not even have the time to have withdrawal |
| mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; | | | | symptoms! |
| mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; | | | | And what about the national football team? Every two |
| mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Italians, people of | | | | years, when the European, and above all the World |
| saints, poets, navigators and
soccer supporters! | | | | Cup take place, giving people the possibility to watch |
| Soccer is certainly Italians’ favourite sport, and | | | | real matches until mid-July, the collective soccer |
| Italians do not only play it (many children go to the | | | | addiction is even more widespread. Someone has |
| soccer schools that can be found even in the smallest | | | | already highlighted that Italians unusually become very |
| villages), they also speak a lot about it. Sunday soccer | | | | patriotic during the European and World Cups, and |
| matches and midweek Europa or Champions League | | | | hand on their heart and hugging each other feeling like |
| matches dominate the conversations in any office, bar | | | | brothers, they sing out the national anthem all together, |
| or square, resolving even social differences. Monday | | | | as if they really were ready to die because |
| morning, in front of a coffee and a croissant, a | | | | Italy has called (as written in the anthem). The |
| manager is likely to start a discussion about soccer | | | | summers Italians are more tied to are those when the |
| with any type of customer, no matter his/her job or | | | | World Cup takes place, those summers which allow |
| level of education: soccer is a common subject, which | | | | them to make a soccer immersion, with commentaries, |
| everybody, from housewives to kids, claims to be | | | | interviews and replies just as happens in winter, those |
| expert of, and everybody is always ready to tell his | | | | summers when, if things go well, you can go along the |
| her opinion about the match that has been played the | | | | streets and celebrate, and there are no fights between |
| night before, the choices of the coach, the | | | | opposing sides. |
| referee’s mistakes. | | | | After all, soccer is a game and a big chance to |
| Italians’ passion for soccer does not reduce | | | | celebrate - besides being a passion that is part of |
| even in summer, when the league is over, players are | | | | Italians’ collective memory - a game that Italians |
| on their yacht or on a golden beach with a pretty girl | | | | would never stop playing. |