Fiorentina vs. AS Roma

This Sunday's game pitted Florence against Rome and ended in a 2-2 tie. The Florentines we talked to today took the tie well, we think. Rome (at 6th) is ranked ahead of Florence (at 9th) in the league standings and, as a result of the tie, neither team moved. 

Oh, Fiorentina!

The day was sunny and clear but very cool and very windy. In the first half Florence had the wind behind them and they seemed to be going “downhill” for the entire half. In the second half the wind strengthened and Florence had to fight its way “uphill”. The Florentine attack was less effective in the second half and Rome was able to score a tying goal.

Rome had more to lose with a tie. Next year’s UEFA Champions League, a cross-Europe tournament, will include only the top four Italian teams. Florence seems out of that competition but Rome is close but after this game is no closer. For a report on the game written by people who actually know something about soccer, see

Report: Fiorentina v AS Roma

Here is our report. Of course, the most important part of the game was the singing of the team anthem at the beginning. We’ve broken our “filming” of the opening ceremonies into two parts.

The first video is the chorus of “Oh, Fiorentina!” where Fiorentina is the team, also known as La Viola for the color that they wear. Here’s the text of the chorus:

Oh Fiorentina,
di ogni squadra ti vogliam regina.
Oh Fiorentina,
combatti ovunque ardita e con valor!
Nell'ora di sconforto e di vittoria,
ricorda che del calcio è tua la storia.

The two squads take the field, Florence in purple, and face the high priced seats as the crowd sings along with a music track. The music track does not include voices; the singing and the clapping you hear are all from the crowd. They’ll keep up the cheering and the singing for the whole game. It’s really exciting.

The most loyal fans are located in the opposite “end zone” from our seats. These seats are all taken by clubs, fan clubs, crazy fans who wear all kinds of purple. The cheering from the other end of the field is spirited and very loud.

Oh, Fiorentino! (chorus)

The second video is the second verse of the team anthem and, again, the chorus.

Maglia viola lotta con vigore,
per esser di Firenze vanto e gloria.
Sul tuo vessillo scrivi: forza e cuore,
e nostra sarà sempre la vittoria!

Oh Fiorentina,
di ogni squadra ti vogliam regina.
Oh Fiorentina,
combatti ovunque ardita e con valor!
Nell'ora di sconforto e di vittoria,
ricorda che del calcio è tua la storia.

and the final chorus is followed by much cheering. The video shows the people like us who have purchased tickets to this one game. We don’t hear a word of English around us.

As the camera pans there seem to be two empty sections to our right. There are, in fact, very empty with security guards in place to keep them empty. In the middle of the empty zone is the section reserved for the fans of the visiting team. They are surrounded by plexiglass walls, they’ve been escorted to the game by the police, and they’ll be escorted away by the police at the end.

It’s an odd effect; with the two groups of fans totally sealed off from one another does not make them more agreeable. We have learned some interesting new vocabulary while attending these games and we’ve been reminded of certain gestures that one can make. Sealing the fans off from one another does not make the event more civil.

Oh, Fiorentina (verse 2 and chorus)

Show tickets,
match with documents

Security at these games is high because of the fear of disturbances. To purchase a ticket you must show your identity papers (or in our case our passports). Your ticket is personalized with your name. When you enter the stadium on the day of the game you must show the same identity documents and be “wanded” for any forbidden metal objects. Then you present your ticket to a computerized turnstile that grants you entrance.

Of course, this is Italy. 

Computerized turnstiles

After all these precautions, there are no ushers and the sections are not very well marked. But that is not a problem because the medical emergency people we talked with said that the tickets in the “end zone” that were sitting in were “tutto uguale”, all the same. In other words we could sit wherever we wanted. We chose seats in the center a few rows from the top so we could have the best possible view of the action. 

The seats were terrific. The action on the field was fun to watch. And the spectators were the best show of all.