Thousands of Italy supporters clogged the streets in Sliema and St Julian’s as they celebrated Italy’s World Cup final win over France on Sunday night.
After a nail-biting 120 minutes, jubilant supporters grabbed their flags and horns, and got into their cars to join hundreds of supporters who were watching the match in bars and pubs around the island.
When Fabio Grosso, Palermo’s unknown left back and Italy’s new hero netted the decisive penalty in the action-packed final, Italy supporters in Malta knew that their dream had come true and their favourite team claimed football’s most coveted trophy for the fourth time, 24 four years after winning the Mundial in Spain. Finally, they could once again claim they were Campioni del Mondo.
The Maltese supporters also made it a point to become ‘champions of the streets and roads’ in Sliema and St Julian’s, so much so that at one point the police had to close off the main thoroughfares because of the huge volume of traffic. Spinola bay was closed off to traffic from Paceville and Regional Road and access to Paceville was only possible from near the Institute of Tourism Studies. Yet, this was not enough to hamper or discourage the boys and girls in blue who partied late into the night.
Against a colourful background of red, white, green and the traditional azzurro, the fans made sure it was a night to remember blaring horns and loudspeakers blasting out popular anthems like Pooh’s new national team anthem Cuore Azzurro, Adriano Celentano’s Azzurro, Queen’s We Are the Champions, Fratelli d’Italia and of course the 1990 anthem Un Estate Italiana.
A jubilant fan said he still could not believe what Italy had achieved. Other supporters said that they were still recovering from the stressful game that was certainly “not for the faint hearted”.
Some supporters were even happier because they had the opportunity to celebrate and watch the game in front of dozens of England fans – who, it must be said, as usual supported the team that played against the Italians.
“Winning the World Cup in front of the England fans is marvellous and certainly a bonus,” an Italy supporter said.
Italy’s bane, the dreaded penalty shootout, appeared to have come back to haunt the team as it did in 1994 when they lost to Brazil. This time round, however, the Italians rose to the occasion and completed an en plein, a rare feat considering their previous run of bad luck. That run had been broken in 2000 but not in the World Cup.
The Italians lost to Argentina in 1990, Brazil in 1994 and were eliminated by France in 1998. There was unspeakable joy as Trezeguet, who punished Italy in Euro 2000, saw his attempt slam against the crossbar, reminiscent of di Biagio’s miss in 1998. Another interesting fact is that Germany last won the title in Italy while this time round the opposite happened.
Although no major incidents were reported, several cars were involved in bumper-to-bumper accidents and other crashes and wardens had to be called out. Several cars also overheated and the engine seized up.
Speaking to The Malta Independent yesterday, the mayor of St Julian’s, Peter Bonello, thanked the police for maintaining excellent order in the streets despite the huge volume of traffic and people in the area. He also thanked all those who cleaned up the place yesterday morning.