Italy revels in its victory
One could proffer that England’s media and some of their more boorish football fans had set the scene for such gloating. The press in Italy were happy to pile on.
Tensions between nations are always high during international tournaments, but this year has seen significantly more animosity than usual.
That, in part, is down to the behaviour and attitudes produced not from foreign countries but from within our very own borders. But now, with defeat still fresh in our minds, Italian news outlets are perhaps enjoying rubbing it in a little too much.
The Independent collated headlines from across a wide array of Italian newspapers, most of which are revelling in the fact they smashed us last night.
‘Football came home! To ours, though,’ said Corriere dello Sport.
The front page of the popular sporting publication proclaimed, ‘È NOSTRA’ [IT’S OURS]
Admittedly, for a country that has bellowed “it’s coming home” for weeks, it is a little embarrassing when it has still yet to come home.
What do we remember about the wonderful Olympics in London? We remember a friendly, joyous celebration of sports, of athletes, of fans, a cordial welcome to the world that came together in England. That is how international sports should be. How we should be.
— TheBossRoss 🇪🇺 🧶 ❄ 📷 6x💉 (@BettinaSRoss1) July 12, 2021
“Justice has been done against these unpleasant English who booed our sacred national anthem,” Il Messaggero said, continuing to refer to English fans as “hooligans who, Brexit or no Brexit, are all the same.”
‘The night before they sacked London in all conceivable ways, with smoke bombs, wild choirs, beer that overflowed from their bottles and their stomachs and ended on the pavement amid broken glass and the stench of alcohol – and, what’s more, trampled our flag throughout the city.’
Though these headlines would evoke an idea that Italy ran riot with victory last night, celebrations were relatively subdued compared to English standards. For England, a minority of fans destroy things when they win, and just to be interesting, they do the same if they lose.
“Better to beat them like this, on penalties, under their lovely drizzle.” Il Messaggero
That publication ran a simple celebratory picture from Wembley with the front page banner of ‘L’EUROPA SIAMO NOI’ [WE ARE EUROPE!]
Elsewhere, we had Tutto sport declaring ‘SIAMO SOLO NOI!’ [JUST US!]
Back closer to home, there was a grim reflection on many of the destructive scenes in London, on Sunday, as some fans got carried away with it all.
https://twitter.com/Jules24_05/status/1414559007466004486
Though many England fans are compassionate individuals who behave like adults, there is still a huge number who seem to forget their age.
There is a reason English football fans are widely considered as some of the worst behaved fans in the world.
https://twitter.com/J4d_3_/status/1414543399928094720
The hangover from this will drag on a while yet, and some Aspirin [or your painkiller of choice] won’t easily fix it.
