Live from the 7:56 to Roma

OK, here we go – look out below. Hippo and Balls are on the assist, I greatly appreciate their help on this.  I know little about the subject, but do know how to blunder across the information super highway outside of the cross walks. So research and practical knowledge of the home nation norms should carry the day. I am writing this in true form, on a train working its way south across Italy towards Rome for bidnezz. It’s a fast train the trip will take a little under 4 hours. 46 years ago this ride was over 9 hours, and I’d always be seated next to some fat salami smellin guy. I lucked out today, seated with a couple of nice young ladies on vacay from Idaho. As fair warning to you all, I was once told by a boss that I write the same way I talk. Not sure if that was a compliment or simply an observation. My bet is it’s the latter. I guess it means I don’t write above my paygrade. And I’m OK with that. So as a bonus, should we ever meet, you’ll know exactly how I talk.

Now, on to the matter at hand.  The 2023 Italian Women’s National Soccer Team is ranked 16th in the world. They are in Group G along with Argentina, South Africa and Sweden. They begin play against Argentina July 24 th , and meet Sweden on July 29 th , finishing group play with South Africa on August 2 nd . An interesting game will be Sweden because midfielder star Aurora Galli, the first Italian woman to go pro, with Hippo’s Lady Everton no less, will meet her Swedish same sex partner Nathalie Bjorn in the match. See I bet you thought I’d comment on the critical nature of that game here. Give some kind of detailed in-depth analysis and betting tips. I will not. Italy will probably loose. Unless team Sweden comes down with some bad south Pacific juju. You should know me better.

The team is loaded with good looking talented experienced players and fresh new comers. Led by team captain Sara Gama from the Series A Juventus FC, they hope to build on the remarkable run they had in 2019. It had been 20 years since the team qualified for world cup play so the 2019 team brought back hope and interest to the women’s game in Italy. It’s funny how making it back into Cup play, then into the knockout round no less, will do that for a team.

The team’s roots date back to 1968. They reached the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals twice in 1991 and 2019. But that is as far as they have progressed historically. They have a chip on their shoulders. Those nice Hippo shoulders. They removed the men’s team earned 4 World Cup stars from their kit. I think that was a good move for them, they want to stand on their own. Forward Cristina Girelli is this team’s top scorer with 46 goals in international team Italia play.

Like much of women’s sports, the team’s popularity and public interest have been rather recently on the rise. Italy is a culture where the men’s team has dominated attention for generations. Similar to the way the NBA supports the WNBA in America, Italy’s Series A ball clubs now sponsor the women’s Series A counterparts. Since the fine run in the 2019 WWC, game attendance is robust. The most recent friendly match, a 2-1 victory over Colombia in Roma, was widely watched live on free Italian television. All major Women’s series A matches are televised with solid viewership. When the “Azzuri” are on, life stops here. That has always been true for the men’s team, I will report back on the hopefully similar events this year. When the games are on I’ll simply walk around the hood. You can tell what’s on the TV in each house on a warm, windows open, summer evening.

Since I have lived here the common year round sight has been boys of all ages on bikes or afoot, heading to the local sports field for practice or games. Gym bags over here were obviously designed by Italian mothers. They have a separate lower compartment with ridged plastic sides and bottom and a zipper closure. This is for your dirty shoes and stinky shorts, keeping clothing and other items in the upper portion cleanly separated. I use one daily to work and back from runs or the gym. Team logos adorn the bags of boys. They started to adorn the bags of boys… and girls… about 10 years ago. Prior to that girls played volleyball. And that was pretty much it. Now girls’ soccer teams at the local level are common. From Series A all the way down to Series C local “farm” clubs they are found in each town. As the father of two sports minded daughters (volleyball, fencing and Karate) over the years it has been great to watch.

So how will manager Melena Bertolini, who also led the 2019 team that out preformed expectations, and the 2023 squad do this time around? In group play likely a loss to 3 rd ranked Sweden. If they can beat Argentina and South Africa, they should advance into the knock out stage as the second place in Group G. There it’s likely they would get Group H’s Germany (uhg). That would probably end it, but if it does nawt… GO BELLE DONNE !!!