Article compiled by: The Athletic
Originally written by James Horncastle
原文标题：How Napoli finally won the Serie A title - 33 years AD (after Diego)
Napoli won Serie A five rounds ahead of schedule, breaking the curse of 33 years without a title. Thirty-three years ago, it was the era of Maradona's individual heroism, and now it is the triumph of collectivism.
"Maradona saved my life"
Nine years ago, when Italian director Paolo Sorrentino took the stage to receive the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, he thanked his inspirations – Federico Fellini, J.R.R. Tolkien, Martin Scorsese and Diego Armando Maradona."
As a native of Naples, Sorrentino has always said, "Maradona saved my life." "That's because on a Sunday a long time ago, he ran for Maradona to watch a match between Napoli and Empoli, and tragedy struck: a carbon monoxide leak killed both his parents and he was the only one who escaped.
Since then, Diego has often appeared in the works of Sorrentino as a divine and artist. "He was my friend, even though I never knew him," Sorrentino said, "and he gave football as a gift, just as the great Neapolitan musician Pino Daniel gave music as a gift, and the great Neapolitan comedian Massimo Troisi gave movies as gifts." ”
For the city of Naples, Maradona is the "saint", the dividing line of the AD. Exhibitions about his life are held in churches rather than museums, and people make "pilgrimages" to the murals of the Spanish Quarter.
Sorrentino even deleted a scene from his TV series The Young Pope, fearing religious troubles — Angelo Voello, a cardinal and hopeless Napoli fan, cheering for the league title under the fountain.
After 33 years, the crazy scene is reappearing. In recent weeks, outside an apartment opposite the Maradona stadium, a banner has been hanging that says that Napoli are winning the Serie A title in 2022-23; At the stalls at the via Giulio Cesare market, T-shirts from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius printed with the colors of the Italian flag have been sold; At the entrance of a bar, heart-shaped blue LED lights flash and a number 3 shirt is fixed to it, signifying the third Serie A title in the team's history – they are everywhere, fluttering in the wind, like blue and white streamers scattered overhead on every street.
Until the night of May 4th, any fear of disrupting the universe dissipated like a low cloud over the bay: the Napoli team won the Serie A title five rounds ahead of the game by 16 points! Winning the championship is important, not 17 points is also important, because a book used to interpret dreams, "Neapolitan Smoke", writes that 17 brings shame and bad luck.
A movie called "Naples"
Naples' film mogul Aurelio de Laurentiis will undoubtedly retain the film rights to his Filmauro studio. His father, Luigi, and uncle Dino, grew up in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, and Dino produced several Fellini's Oscar-winning films as well as Serpico. If you happen to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, you'll recall that De Laurentiis' uncle once attracted American movie stars to Rome, where the production cost was a fraction of what they did in Hollywood.
Luigi, who grew up in the Eternal City, loved Naples and passed on this passion to Aurelio. So, De Laurentiis always dreamed of buying the club. In 1999, after a year of painful relegation at Napoli, he tried, but failed, and the takeover even went to court. Five years later, the club was in an even tougher time, and DeLaurentiis suddenly had another chance, so he dropped the red carpet and Hollywood Boulevard.
At the time, one of his films, Captain Star and Tomorrowland, starring Angelina Jolie, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, was in post-production and about to premiere. In order to be able to successfully acquire the club, he warned the actors not to behave out of the ordinary when flying back to Italy, and also secretly concealed from his wife Jacqueline and the children. Eventually, he closed the deal in Capri, where the cliffs were steep and green and fell into turquoise water, just as he had fallen into a sea of blue football.
"Naples is practically gone," he said. De Laurentiis took a boat to Napoli, hired a lawyer and paid 32 million euros for the club, only to get a pile of documents. Indeed, at that time Napoli had only brands left, the club had nothing else, and the old training ground, located near the town of Sokavo, was abandoned - Maradona used to jokingly call it paradise when he trained there.
It was the first week of September 2004 and the new season was about to begin. "We bought the shirt from the corner shop, put together a team very late and trained on the Ariston pitch in Paestum." De Laurentiis said, "I don't know anything about football, I come from the film industry. When I was in school, I played basketball. ”
Napoli are a third division team and at the end of their first season they lost to Avellino in the play-offs. But over the next 20 years, Napoli fans watched their beloved team return to Serie A and return to Europe 13 years later to make their first Champions League appearance, winning the Coppa Italia three times under Benitez and Gattuso. They bought Pampa Sousa jerseys and wrote songs for the "Big Three" Hamsik, Ravizzi and Edinson Cavani. They idolize Datorro for helping Napoli win their first win against Juve since 1988 and cursing the "traitor" Higuain who joined Juve.
None of these people won the Serie A title, though. Even Sarri, whom Guardiola and Sacchi are optimistic about, has not done so. Napoli scored 91 points in the 2017-2018 season, but still could not shake Juve's dominance and became the runners-up with the highest points in history. "In the history of football, there are teams that define an era," Sarri comforted himself, "and everyone remembers the Dutch team in the 1970s, not who won the World Cup. I'm sure 20 years from now, people will remember this Napoli team. ”
In southern Italy, Napoli often played passionate, fluid and groundbreaking football, especially under Luis Venesio in 1975, but they lacked the cold, ruthless practicality of northern teams. In that era, trophies and the way of victory determined the culture wars surrounding Italian football's identity. Southern sports writer Antonio Guirreli battled Gianni Brera from the North, who became emboldened by AC Milan and Inter's European Cup wins, using his powerful pen argument to claim that defensive and counter-attacking football is innate and the only way for Italian football to succeed. It was a blow to the South and the Neapolitan style, as if their fate in football, was to be beautiful losers.
Beautiful loser
Spalletti's appointment seems to be in line with this view. On the final day of the 2008 season, his Roma led by an hour in the title race, but Inter rallied in the downpour at Parma to take the title. Later, at Inter, Spalletti was sacked by new CEO Marotta, and Conte replaced him because he did not believe he had a championship life.
By then, his brother had just died, and Spalletti returned to the Tuscan farm, making wine, riding horses and feeding ducks. Soon, though, De Laurentiis arrived. "When I first got to know Aurelio, he gave me a Naples in transition. The accounts need to be balanced, the team needs to revive and we have to get the team back in the Champions League after two years. To get back on track, we have to play good football so we can attract players. ”
De Laurentiis brought good players to Napoli, bringing in Osmeyne for a transfer fee of 75 million euros, a record for the team. Spalletti is responsible for making fans "fall back in love" with Napoli. At the debut ceremony, he said the team reflected the city in its style of play: "sfacciata" and "scunignizzo," lucky, "cheeky," with street intelligence, 11 cunning dodges.
On the back of the training bib, Spalletti had people print the opening lyrics of his favorite Maradona stadium chant. “Sarócon te/Non-devi mollare/Abbiamo un sogno nel cuore/Che Napoli torna campione。” I will be by your side. Don't give up. We have a dream in our hearts. Napoli is champions again.
In the bald coach's first season in charge, Napoli won the first eight games of the league before visiting defending champions Inter. To add insult to injury, Osmein's eye socket was shattered by Shkriniar and he was injured for several months.
Blows followed: the Africa Cup of Nations loaned Koulibaly and Anguisa for much of January; Insigne was photographed signing Toronto FC at the Rome Hotel; It was "strange" that Mertens found out that the club did not choose to extend his contract when he offered to take a pay cut.
Heading into March, a 1-0 defeat to AC Milan left Napoli without hope of winning the title. "If we had won that game, I believe everything would have changed," Mertens said.
In the penultimate home game of the season, the Maradona Stadium was filled with angry criticism of De Laurentiis. Although he saved the Napoli club and broke records several times when bringing in Higuain (39 million euros), Lozano (45 million euros) and Osmayne (75 million euros).
Napoli have been profitable in 10 of their 16 seasons in Serie A, but that hasn't made De Laurentiis any more popular. To many, football is first and foremost a business: 92% of his Filmauro studio's revenue comes from football, not films. Fans equate cost-cutting (Napoli's wages are down 15%) with cutting ambition, so Napoli's purge last summer bodes no way.
"Nobody believed us," De Laurentiis said, "maybe a few people did, but not enough to counter public opinion and dissatisfaction with our transfer window." Almost no one knows the players we're going to sign. There was Kim Min-ya from Fenerbahce, a central defender, and the little-known Kvaratsheria, and De Laurentiis laughed: "A Georgian and a Korean." It sounds like the beginning of a joke. ”
When Napoli decided to let go of Koulibaly, Insigne and Mertens, they also let go of the emotional baggage of losing the league title. This new Napoli team has a sense of freshness, an element of fearlessness and surprise. The team still has some of Serie A's best defence, with the back four bravely holding the high post and taking on more offensive responsibility. Mario Rui looks like an extra in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, often transforming into No. 10 in left-back. "Have you seen Jin Minya?" Spalletti asked Chiellini, "He's an animal." When he senses danger, is able to speed up everything he does. He always wanted to play and I had to stop him from playing in our reserves. In Spalletti's view, King is "the best centre-back in the world".
The midfielders complement each other perfectly. Napoli are the only Serie A team with an average possession rate of more than 60% and an average of more than 600 passes per game. Giving the ball to the diminutive Slovak Lobotka is like putting it in a safe. "He gave us the opportunity to attack space," Spalletti said, "and he's like Andres Iniesta, who looks easy to catch, but he leaves you and picks up speed. ”
Napoli's attack has changed this season. Last year, only Manchester City (15 goals) scored more points outside the box than Napoli (13). This year, the number of long-range shots has decreased by 20%, with only one long-range shot scored by Kvarachelia.
What's with? First of all, the K77 dribbles the ball differently than Insigne. He was nimble with his feet, so instead of cutting inside to shoot, he burst into the box and tried to create a foul or shoot closer to the goal. Secondly, if you have a striker like Osmayne with plenty of acceleration and flexibility, it's no surprise that crosses have increased by almost 30% compared to last season.
Napoli's 17 goals in Serie A came with headers. Kvarachelia dribbles through your side, breaks through to the line and sends a pass, or passes the ball into the air and onto Osmeen's head.
Osmayne will be the first African player ever to be crowned Serie A Golden Boot. It doesn't matter when he's unwell, though, as Napoli's substitute has scored 15 goals this season. Giovanni Simeone came off the bench against Liverpool in the Champions League and scored a goal, also scoring against AC Milan at San Siro. Raspadori came out on top in a 6-1 victory over Ajax in the Champions League.
AC Milan's technical director Paolo Maldini and Juve boss Allegri are very happy that Napoli have won the league. "Well done," someone overheard Allegri shouting last weekend. "You've won a league title."
Naples loves heroes
In Naples, where one league winner is equivalent to 10 in Turin, the city will host parties throughout the summer and is very busy, so don't come to Naples now. Of course, not everyone will heed this advice, and the Naples police have already arrested a fugitive from Georgia who, at the risk of his arrest, wanted to watch the Kvarachelia match with his own eyes.
Nicknamed Kvaradorna, his resemblance to Diego is interesting. During Maradona's seven years at Naples, 515 newborns were named Diego, and Kvarachelia's teammate, German midfielder Diego Dem, was named after the old horse.
The same thing happened to him now. Earlier this month, Napoli fans Armando and Clara gave birth to a baby boy at the Santa Patrizia clinic. They looked him in the eye and decided that the best name for him was Daniele Khvicha. As for Osmayne, he inspired the pastry chefs and chefs of Naples to create new creations, while the lucky mask, which he no longer needed after recovering from cheekbone surgery, was fastened to clotheslines in some streets, bringing good luck to those who walked under the mask.
Lately, every day in Naples has been like waiting for Christmas. This city has a thousand colors, including red, white and green, which symbolize the league champion. De Laurentiis may even see another club in the family, Barry, get promoted: "I'm surprised everyone is so excited. Napoli always put together highly competitive teams. I'm not talking about the strongest, but the most honest. ”
Unlike Maradona, current Napoli captain Di Lorenzo is not very famous, but after he has played all levels of Italian football, it is another form of heroism. Sorrentino can now find a new source of inspiration and, if he wishes, can dedicate his next Oscar to Kvarachelia or Osmayne, as Spalletti puts it: "There is no city that loves heroes as much as Naples." My team and I want to be remembered. That's what I want. "They did.