PROVIDING INSPIRATION

Midway through the first half, Lazio momentarily drew level on points – albeit hypothetically in updated league tables across the cyber sphere – with Inter in Serie A. The head-to-head advantage, in fact, pushed the Biancoceleste into third place and president Claudio Lotito let a grin escape across his face.

Faced with the necessity of having to replace his sent-off goalkeeper Julio Cesar, Leonardo sacrificed one of his two strikers: off trudged Diego Milito.

“Wesley, Leonardo called you over to the touchline even before Zarate struck the penalty and the two of you spoke in depth. What was it your coach said to you and did it inspire you to produce the performance which has pulled Inter from fourth to second in the league?”

However, in the mixed zone, Mr Sneijder never strolled past the expectant journalists. The Lazio players, heavily protected by their media organiser, shuffled towards the waiting coach. The Inter equivalent explained that Castellazzi and Stankovic were to be the two players, as required by contract, to speak to the press.

No Wesley, whose expertly-struck free kick five minutes before half time took the teams into the interval tied 1-1. The player who, once shifted to the left of midfield, produced a sparkling performance, arguably his most inspirational this season.

Never would it be known whether Leonardo’s re-reading of Sophie's World had brought the Brazilian coach an insight which brought about an “impossible” turnaround. Which, if any, of the Ancient Greek philosophers’ – or perhaps even Hegel’s or Marx’s – thoughts filtered through the words of author Jostein Gaarder led an outnumbered Nerazzurri side rediscover desire, hunger and conviction.

Sneijder was even treated to the luxury of a standing ovation as Inter, now playing 10 against 10, won their 11th home match on the spin and climbed the table to second rather than sliding out of the last direct Champions League berth.

A well-deserved early shower and no press commitments for the Dutchman. Damn.

The Comeback

The Comeback by calcio and coffee

WHAT’S IN A NEAPOLITAN GRIMACE? AFTERWORD

Maurizio Domizzi had a choice of three, the trio delle meraviglie. Which one between Marek Hamsik, Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi would the former Napoli defender prefer not to have to deal with? 

In an interview published the day of the match in the Gazzetta dello Sport, the 30-year-old didn’t name the 25 goal El Matador who was raring to go after being obliged to vent his frustrations in the stands of the Dall’Ara stadium.

The defender, part of the Azzurri team that won promotion to Serie A in 2006/07, didn’t name the Slovakian attacking midfielder whose goal tally has reached double digits for the second consecutive season.

The man the Rome-born player picked out as the most dangerous of the Azzurri frontline was the tattooed-gun-toting El Pocho.

“He is less of a trickster than [Alexis] Sanchez, but he has something more when it comes to athletic force and progression,” he explained.

Lavezzi loves to score against Udinese. Four goals in all, including his first in the Italian top flight in his second league match for the team he joined from San Lorenzo in the summer of 2007.

That 5-0 mauling of Udinese at the Friuli stadium was the largest winning margin since another Argentine had inspired Napoli to success, and comparisons were quickly drawn.

Despite the loss, the Pizzeria Veraci on Viale Augusta was still packed, although silence reigned. Rather than share thoughts on the match, the disappointed fans let the words of the country’s most famous pundits fall on their ears. No comment was made until the last of the voti, the marks out of 10 awarded to the game’s key actors.

4.5 to Cavani, also for failing to score the last minute penalty, silence; 5 for Hamsik, silence; 6 for Lavezzi, after all he did set up Mascara’s goal in stoppage time.

Harrumphs, grunts and tuts.

Six, the number for that which looks upon the ground, and which didn’t look favourably on Napoli, including Lavezzi, who showed why comparisons with The Number 10 were drawn perhaps too quickly.

The player who turns 26 the first week of May did not inspire, and when you follow in the footsteps of Diego Maradona, the power to inspire is the minimum expected.

WHAT’S IN A NEAPOLITAN GRIMACE?

The only business open to customers on Viale Augusto on a Sunday afternoon is the local betting shop where the football-crazy gambling-mad punters scour form books as they attempt to strike lucky.

When Napoli play at home, the main drag heading towards the San Paolo spills over with pedestrians, cars and scooters careening their way to the stadium.

Fans stop by for a quick bet on the weekend’s fixtures and also a flutter on the lottery. This is when La Smorfia comes into its own. The ancient rite of interpreting dreams has adapted with the ages, held sway in popular culture, embedded itself in everyday life. The purpose of La Smorfia is to yield meaning from the odd array of characters who populate nightly visions, the figures strange and familiar who also creep into woken existence.

Serie A Round 33, Il’Anne ‘e Cristo, the age of Christ, already a good omen if ever there was one.

20 wins from 32 matches for Napoli before heading into the meeting with Udinese. 20, ‘a Festa, the party, another positive portent.

Walter Mazzarri’s team has been beating the odds since Round 11, when the Azzurri defeated Cagliari in Sardinia by a solitary goal in the 93^rd minute from Ezequiel Lavezzi – who hurled himself into the advertising hoardings, inventing a painful but memorable style to celebrate - to climb back into third place, which apart from one week’s blip, is the lowest spot occupied since November 10^th.

The coach from Tuscany has managed to build a team capable of challenging for a Champions League place, a team capable of competing for the... STOP! In such a superstitious city, the word scudetto must not be uttered. If spoken, all hope of lifting the league winners’ trophy for the third time in the club’s history evaporates into thin air.  

Mazzarri has replaced the unspoken word with sogno, a dream for the inhabitants of the city-by-the-sea with well-noted problems. During the pre-match press conference for Udinese’s visit, the 49-year-old again intoned he had a dream, and the city dreamed along with him.

The fans flocked to Fuorigrotta, more than 55 thousand again, the third largest attendance of the season. Only visits from Juventus and Lazio had brought more fans to the Neapolitan shrine to football. Now more than one million have paid their respects.  

The Azzurri were enjoying their best spell of form of the season, four straight wins – the last, away to Bologna, witnessed an influx of 15 thousand supporters to the Dall’Ara to deck Bologna’s stadium in sky blue. Four, ‘o Puorco, you lucky pig!

Five matches unbeaten, the longest unbeaten run. Five, ‘a Mano, the hand pointing to glory.

As much as Napoli were on the up, Udinese on the other hand, were on the down. Two consecutive defeats, against Lecce and Roma, appeared to have put paid to hopes of ousting Lazio from fourth place, and the right to scrap in the Champions League preliminary round.

The crushing last-minute defeat to the Giallorossi last weekend was compounded by the loss of Serie A top scorer Toto’ Di Natale on top of the confirmed absence of El Nino Maravilla Alexis Sanchez, both through injury.

Two and two, 22, o’ Pazzo, the mad man was laughing at Udinese’s misfortune.

The signs were evident: The unpronounceable dream could/would/must continue through to Easter weekend, when hope springs eternal.

Yet, the dream ended on Sunday, 17^th April. The number six ruled.

In Round 33, the sixth from last match of the 2010/11 Serie A season, six minutes separated Gokhan Inler’s non-celebration after scoring the opener from German Denis’s goal, non-celebrated by apologising to the stunned onlookers.

Napoli lost at home to Udinese to slip six points behind leaders AC Milan.

The Switzerland international, whose overall performance showed why the midfielder is on sporting director Riccardo Bigon’s wanted list for next season, became the first player in the history of the game not to celebrate a goal so as not to hurt the feeling of future fans. Meanwhile, El Tanque was obliged to alter his delightful existence near the Amalfi coast last summer – not that life in Udine is anything to complain about – and his hand on heart gesture was met with a polite round of applause.

Six games were left, six minutes between the two non-celebrations, six points behind the Rossoneri: 666 or simply 6, which La Smorfia explains is chella ca guarda ‘nterra. And that which looks upon the ground did not look favourably on Napoli.   

66 per cent of possession by the home side was rewarded by leaving huge gaps for Francesco Guidolin’s honed midfield to slash an irreparable tear in the dream fabric which had been spun around Naples.

Again Mazzarri was unable to outmanoeuvre a coach of a team still competing for a place in “the tournament that counts” as Aurelio De Laurentiis, president of the Partonepea prefers to call it. Only one victory all season, that memorable 4-3 success over Lazio, against the other top teams. On the receiving end, two defeats against Milan, two defeats against Udinese, one a piece against Inter and Lazio.

Six again. Read it in the signs.

The fragile nature of the Napoli dream was clear for all to see, from the fans, who never recovered their voice once Inler’s swerving shot nestled into the back of Morgan De Sanctis’ net; also, from the players, too stunned to attempt yet another comeback. Stunned and incredulous, and on the verge of letting the tension tip over into folly.  A late penalty was saved by Samir Handanovic and stopped Edinson Cavani from catching Di Natale as capocannoniere.

Di Natale’s family hails from the outskirts of Naples. The player whose hat-trick sunk Napoli back in late November was not present at the stadium although his father was, draped in sky blue, happy and sad.

The feeling of contented disappointment was displayed by the entire support at the final whistle. The players were treated to a dignified ovation as the cold wind painted a painful grimace on the Neapolitan faithful.

Fitting when you consider the general meaning of smorfia? Grimace.