One nation in despair while another dreams of a rebirth
Spectre of racism raises its head in England while Italy bursts out in celebration after Euro 2020 triumph
LONDON: After exertions in six matches spanning 30 days, both teams had whipped their countrymen into a frenzy, one nation dreaming of a remarkable climb back to the summit after the humiliation of failing to qualify for the last World Cup while the other stood on the brink of ending a hurt that had cut deeper and deeper with every subsequent failure, since its ascent to football's mountain top 55 years ago.
At the end of more than 130 minutes of theatre that had a mix of drama, skill, errors, and jangling nerves on the pitch and in the stands at Wembley Stadium, Italy burst into joyous delirium after its football team, the Azzurri, were crowned European champions for the second time following their win on home soil in 1968, while England was plunged into despair as the Three Lions' bid to add a first continental crown to their singular World Cup triumph in 1966 was left in tatters.
The violent scenes pre-match when ticketless fans stormed through security barriers to enter Wembley, and the online racist abuse directed at the black players in the England team in the aftermath of the Euro 2020 final in London on Sunday was ugly and in direct contrast to the unadulterated joy that sprang all over Italy.
Gareth Southgate slammed the racist abuse aimed at three of his players who missed penalties in the defeat.
Marcus Rashford, 23, Jadon Sancho, 21, and Bukayo Saka, 19, were the victims of sickening social media taunts in the aftermath of the 3-2 penalty shoot-out loss.
While some people identifying as England fans used racial slurs in blaming the trio for the defeat, other offensive messages were accompanied by "Forza Italia" hashtags, Reuters reported.
The England team have earned praise for their stand against racism, while a number of players have also campaigned on other social causes. The multiracial make-up of the squad had been hailed as reflecting a more diverse modern Britain.
UNFORGIVABLE
"For some of them to be abused is unforgivable," England boss Southgate said yesterday. "Some of it has come from abroad, we have been told this, but some of it is from this country.
"We have been a beacon of light to bring people together and the national team stands for everybody."
While England was forced to fight a scourge, four-time world champion Italy revelled in football heaven after 18 months of pandemic hell.
Led by coach Roberto Mancini, the players landed shortly after dawn yesterday to find many fans still celebrating in the early morning cool, with the smell of fireworks lingering in the streets and flags flapping out of car windows.
"We really needed to get together again, to celebrate, to be happy, to have a shared moment. We really needed it," Rome resident Sara Giudice told Reuters.
Italy was the first Western nation to be slammed by the virus last year and has registered 127,788 deaths, more than any European country bar Britain.
Most of the restrictions aimed at curbing the contagion have been lifted and Sunday felt like a liberation in many squares across the country where the football triumph was greeted by an explosion of cheers, blaring car horns and tears.
"You were in front of our eyes. You were in our hearts. The pain of those who have suffered. The hardships of those who have been brought to their knees by the pandemic," veteran captain Giorgio Chiellini wrote on Twitter.
A brass band marched through the streets of the southern island of Lampedusa, fans rowed through the canals of Venice and a procession of honking cars drove along the same street in the northern city of Bergamo, where last year army trucks queued up to collect coffins of Covid-19 victims, said Reuters.
It was the kind of noise England would have wished for. Instead, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to condemn racist abuse.
"This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media," he said on Twitter. "Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves."
Twitter removed more than 1,000 tweets and permanently suspended some accounts following the "abhorrent" racist abuse directed at the English players. British police said they would investigate the posts.
While England is suffering and has the difficult task of picking up the pieces, Italy is full of belief again and dreaming of a renaissance.
"If this (victory) remains a beautiful memory in a dark moment or if instead it becomes a symbol of rebirth depends only on us," the Italian daily Corriere della Sera wrote yesterday.
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