“We deserve more”, shouted in unison the fifteen hundred fans who challenged the Azzurri after the great victory in Frosinone, and who rudely sent back Callejn’s shirt to the stands in a generous attempt of reconciliation. “We deserve more” is the football variation of that country’s disease that transformed the wishes of citizens into claims and threw public opinion into a square swollen with rage.
In these parts “directness” is endemic. Each of his upsurge brings Napoli back decades. Yesterday’s bitter show is a plastic example. First of all because it addresses a wrong symbolic target. Jos Mara Callejn is, among all the Italian football players, the one who gave more than any fan could expect. At 32 he celebrated the 300th match with the Azzurri shirt. The consistency of his performance in the six seasons at Napoli is impressive: out of 228 games in Serie A he played 222, twice stayed out through suspension, four on the bench, but certainly not by choice. He scored 60 goals, but above all he has adapted to the demands of his coaches who have changed their role over time, transforming an attacking outsider into a joker capable of raising a dam in midfield or replacing a wide back. Without ever saving energy, without ever doing too much a foul, without ever having a word out of place. If Callejn has become the irreplaceable for three different technicians, such as Benitez, Sarri and Ancelotti, this is due to the concentration and dedication that has lavished without interruption.
Giving back the gift of a sweaty shirt, after an extravagant and well-played game, has the meaning of a profanation. And it shows the whole grass syndrome I want from a part of the fans. A deficit of maturity that mirrors the psychological fragility shown by the Azzurri in various decisive ways, and has often cost the elimination from Europe or the renunciation of the Scudetto one step from the finish line. This proves how complex and articulated is the formula of success in modern football and how much everyone, society, team, fans and city, compete to achieve it or rather to undo it. It is precisely the city, that of unorganized but equally passionate fans, that can overturn this intransigent and destructive story into another more realistic one. It means not hiding a certain disappointment for a waning season finale, but keep in mind that with the arrival of Ancelotti a new cycle has begun and it is early to ratify its failure; that Juve has sufficient financial strength to kill the championship; that the whole Italian football pays the price of management opacities, infrastructural delays and organizational inadequacies; that, finally, Napoli represents in this non-thrilling panorama a happy exception, for investment wisdom and continuity of results. Supporting this team, whistling those who whistle it unjustly, as some of the San Paolo fans did in the match lost to Atalanta, is still a reasonable choice.
From: Corriere Dello Sport.
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