Since soccer is a big deal in this country, we saw big celebrations for that all over the country and also here in Genoa.
All over Liguria there were fireworks, choirs and dances, smoke bombs and flags hoisted everywhere on the balconies.
Whenever the National team plays, Italian people rediscover “their roots” and feel nationalistic again.
Genoese people celebrated the victory of Italy at the end of Euro 2020 with celebrations that spread across the city from Piazza De Ferrari for a full night of – noisy - joy. Some food trucks parked around the places of major gatherings made a lot of money that night.
At the end of the final game, won by the Italian team on penalties, the euphoria exploded especially in the city center with carousels and parades of honking cars and scooters with flags and some fans even climbed on the De Ferrari fountain to wave the flag from the top of it (risking to damage it unfortunately).
Fireworks lit up the sky in front of the Palazzo della Regione, and as the joy and emotion increased and then the celebrations moved towards the narrow alleys of the historic center, San Lorenzo, and the Old Port but also along the shopping streets.
For the occasion the municipality set up two big screens, one in Piazza De Ferrari, the main square of the city, and one at the Porto Antico (the Old Port) to broadcast the final game.
The original plan was that only vaccinated people or people with a negative molecular test could have access to these areas but this sparked some arguments so, at the end, the municipality decided to have the police force remove the barriers and everyone was let in to avoid potential violence, vandalism and riots.
Several other cities around Italy had taken a different route by deciding to give up on installing giant screens due to the risk of gatherings and an increase in coronavirus infections in days when there was much debate about the increase in cases for the Delta variant.
The choice of the Genoese administration to provide two screens opened a heated debate on the mayor's Facebook page who in the evening even came to the city center to try to calm the spirits of the soccer supporters (without much luck though).
There were ambulances and police cars on stand-by but luckily nothing bad happened and the night went quite smoothly although Covid-19 cases increased in the days following the event.
Italian flags appeared everywhere
A curiosity worth mentioning is that amongst the many Italian flags one could also notice what seemed to be the English flag (the flag of the opponents) but it was not the case.
What an outsider could easily mistake for the English flag was instead the banner of the republic of Genoa, which is identical to the English flag with its red cross on a white background. The Genoa flag bears indeed the cross of St. George.
The cross of St. George was a symbol of strength at sea and it represented the power of Genoa as a Maritime Republic. England adopted this very same flag precisely in the period in which the republic of Genoa was at its peak of power as a symbol of protection as it served as a warning to any enemies who, mistaking it for the Genoese one, thought twice before attacking.
Permission to copy the flag was granted by Genoa at the time of course.
Many people watched the game with friends
