Last night Roma played Lazio, and I was there. This derby, like all derbies, carried an element of danger because when you have two home teams with bloodthirsty fascist fans in the same place at the same time, as well as the option of sharing public transit home, well, you have a recipe for bloody-nosed disaster. Fortunately disaster was averted thansk to the strong police presence, also our parties’ presence of mind to leave before the end of the game.
The game itself was pretty damn good. For the first half. Second half shit fell apart. But the first half had some strong wide open, gritty play, punctuated by Totti’s goal in the 39th minute. Of course that put us Roma fans in a good mood. Even us halfstepping Roma fans who are fans really only by dint of our seat assignments. A mood we were to carry all the way into the second half when Lazio equalized and the play degenerated into a barrage of skirmishes and yellow cards. All the shouts of “Lazio! Lazio! Vaffuncuolo!” couldn’t save us. No matter how much of a putana their moms are. It was destined to grind to tie.but Lazio of course (those dirtbags!) would feel the winners because they came back in the second half, then held off a late charge to salvage the tie.
Us disappointed johnny-come-latelies-to-the-bandwagon would skeddadle early to avoid the rough stuff. It’s said the Lazio Ultras are Ultra Fascists, and the Roma Ultra aren’t much better. So we made our way early. I enjoyed the game with an entourage of family-oriented Swedes, and those Northern Europeans are known for their thoughtfulness, careful planning and so we scotched off early.
But me? I’m fucking bloodthirsty for more football. Not hooliganism per se, but definitely at least understanding what i’m chanting and standing up and making insulting gestures to the opposing teams, that’s what i’m into.
If only Roma wasn’t so mediocre and Totti not so stupid i’d really have something to cheer about.
Regardless of the disappointing outcome and the early departure it was a good show. The passion and the glory and the home team vs. the home team.
