{"id":177,"date":"2006-07-09T23:56:00","date_gmt":"2006-07-09T23:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sararosso.com\/wordpress\/2006\/07\/09\/world-cup-fever-pre-game-madness\/"},"modified":"2006-09-05T12:05:09","modified_gmt":"2006-09-05T12:05:09","slug":"world-cup-fever-pre-game-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2006\/07\/09\/world-cup-fever-pre-game-madness\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Fever: Pre-game madness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: I wrote this while it was still fresh, and before the game so as to be untainted\/affected by the outcome of the game itself.<\/p>\n

All day, there has been an energy in the air. Excitement, expectation.<\/p>\n

Here’s a picture of Piazza del Duomo around 1pm, still seven hours from game time. These people were there early to secure themselves a place in front of the big screen, to secure themselves a possible place in history.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The last time Italy won the World Cup was in 1982<\/a>. Many of those waiting outside all day probably couldn’t remember anything other than wanting momma’s milk in 1982. They want their history, their piece and their story this time.<\/p>\n

One thing I have to point out is that entrepreneurism is alive and well in Italy, and it is most evident every time an event like this comes along. On every street corner, there were people of every nation selling Italian flags (bandiere), hats, wristbands, keychains, cellphone holders, and air horns. OH, the air horns. Approaching the piazza it actually sounded as if a band was playing with the different tones of the thousands of horns.<\/p>\n

Here is a man selling ice cold coconuts with a straw in them, of all things. And people were buying!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In Italy, the Napoletani are known for their ingenuity regarding the street selling and making money during opportune times (see: ticket scalping). During any championship or series title game, they are known to have both teams’ shirts pre-printed and proclaiming them as the winners, waiting for whomever actually wins the game.<\/p>\n

We came back to the piazza del Duomo a few hours later, just before 7pm, and about one hour from game time. The piazza is now full from the point of view that every possible vantage point that has a view of the big screen has been taken.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The statue in the piazza, of Vittorio Emmanuele<\/a>, seems to have been conquered itself.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The thing that was really cool was that anyone with a flag was a fan, no matter what language they spoke or where they came from. There was a big group of fans from Bangladesh that were walking together with a banner – unfortunately this other random guy walked in front of my shot.<\/p>\n

There was non-stop horn blowing, cheering, and no change unless something was blown up, and then it got louder.<\/p>\n

Video Hosting<\/a> – Upload Video<\/a> – Video Sharing<\/a>
\nOf course, in every overtaking, we have a victor. The fans definitely conquered the Piazza del Duomo.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: I wrote this while it was still fresh, and before the game so as to be untainted\/affected by the outcome of the game itself. All day, there has been an energy in the air. Excitement, expectation. Here’s a picture of Piazza del Duomo around 1pm, still seven hours from game time. These people were…<\/p>\n

Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-italy","category-milan","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4uB1-2R","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":169,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2006\/06\/16\/are-you-ready-for-somefutbol\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":0},"title":"Are you ready for some…FUTBOL?","author":"Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy","date":"June 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Some links for the weekend... A sunburn (not yours, natch) can be fun with the: Sundown \"Human Piano\" Fortunately, I AM a morning person. For those that aren't, there's this hilarious commercial (I think this is how S sees me) If you still have warm & fuzzies about Bob Saget\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":173,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2006\/06\/28\/how-to-make-a-grown-italian-man-cry\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":1},"title":"How to Make a Grown (Italian) Man Cry","author":"Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy","date":"June 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Beta-tester: I am testing the Beta versions of Hotmail as well as Yahoo mail. I am partial to Yahoo's as it uses tabs as well as drag and drop!! Both are using AJAX technology which in layman's terms means the page won't have to reload now every time you click\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":170,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2006\/06\/19\/watching-the-game-in-piazza-duomo-milan\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":2},"title":"Watching the game in Piazza Duomo, Milan","author":"Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy","date":"June 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Create your own Picasso masterpiece onlinePut your Etch-a-Sketch skills to the test with the online versionCan you feel the excitement at the beginning of the game? There were about 5,000 people there watching the game with us. I didn't see any American flags but I did hear a few Americans\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":357,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2007\/07\/11\/how-to-order-an-italian-coffee-in-italy\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":3},"title":"How to Order an Italian Coffee in Italy","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"July 11, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"How to Order an Italian Coffee in Italy is now a book on Amazon Kindle with dozens of full-color photos and an Italian pronunciation guide! Buy your copy now! There are so many different types of Italian coffee, and by now we know them all, right? Latte, mocha, Frappuccino... You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/italian-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"How to Order an Italian Coffee in Italy by Sara Rosso","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/HowtoOrderanItalianCoffeeinItaly_SaraRosso-187x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":178,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2006\/07\/10\/world-cup-fever-after\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":4},"title":"World Cup Fever: Post-show","author":"Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy","date":"July 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"So we know how it ends. I have to say I have seen both teams play better, especially Italy. But that's how it goes, and luck was with the Azzurri last night. And Buffon the goalkeeper, of course. But on to the partying. The living room of our new apartment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":171,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2006\/06\/21\/the-bigger-the-butt-the-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":5},"title":"The Bigger the Butt, the Better","author":"Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy","date":"June 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Not for the easily offended, but a great online Pinball advergame for Beer League (NSFW - need headphones)Snickers Satisfies - now daily! Every day they will have a different game, flash or something to keep you occupied. It's an interesting idea with a lot of upkeep! Che culo hai!! What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}