Column丨Messi did not eat snails

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"Dad, is Florence still 11 people?"

We sat at the top of the Marathon Stand at Francie Stadium, near the central area. At the beginning of the game, 6-year-old daughter Bea was most concerned about the number of people on the court.

This isn't the first time she's been watching a ball live. More than 2 years old, she has seen football in several cities such as Bologna, San Marino, Cesena and Reggio Emilia. Dad went to work in the press stands, and she went to the audience with her mom and met together after the game.

This time it was her "return" to the pitch after a few years. Instead of her parents taking her to a lively and hazy place, she offered to see "Fiorentina."

Many surveys say that in Italy, children around the age of 5-7 have their own support team. The situation with BEA seems to coincide. Around this age, whether kindergarten or elementary school, children begin to have superficial communication on some specific social topics and easily influence each other.

Bonucci's son became a Turin fan because a kindergarten friend supported Turin, completely ignoring his father's feelings, and later Bonucci took his son to chase stars and have dinner with Turin striker Bellotti.

Another approach is related to the cognitive process, where children at this stage tend to lock in a coordinate based on the world they are exposed to, like the son of Costa Kuta who became a Nerazzurri fan because he witnessed Inter Milan win the league title.

Despite living near Stadio Frankie, I never spoke to Bea about the Fiorentina team. But the influence of the kindergarteners on her was obvious, and she would comment on her way to school, "Fiorentina is Fiorentina's Fiorentina team. Fiorentina is purple and I like purple", which I think is probably a copy of a kindergarten buzzword.

I once asked her if there were any children in kindergarten who supported other teams, such as Juventus, which statistically has the second highest number of fans in the region. She said no.

Juventus fans in Florence only show up when Juve are in important matches, and the surrounding apartment buildings are full of shouts from different floors. There's an old guy at the dining bar near Bea's kindergarten, and every morning a huge crowd of people talk about football, and I always thought he was a Fiorentina fan. Until someone pointed at him and said, "This guy is a typical Juventus Fiorentina fan, never contradicts you, just like that, he listens to everyone's details with joy." ”

It seems that the scope of stealth for local Juve fans also includes kindergartens.

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The Francie Stadium in Florence is almost 100 years old, and despite some renovations for the 1990 World Cup, the overall structure is still old, with only a roof on the podium side of the stand. Our stand is opposite the rostrum and is called the "Marathon Stand" because there is a 75-meter-high "Marathon" monument in the center of the stand.

We sat not far from the monument, and Bea immediately said, "This is the balcony of the house, and these lights." ”

I didn't tell her the origin of the Marathon monument: a legacy of the aesthetics of the fascist era, an Optimus pillar, a symbol of strength and strength. At the same time, it is also enough to explain the anti-human nature of fascism, the connotation of which is the reproductive worship of industrial society, the unlimited expansion of male power and the mighty in all directions, contrary to the spirit of the Renaissance "human ruler".

Bea has an enduring interest in whether Fiorentina still has 11 people, because when football is played at home, two things attract her attention the most, one is the goal and the other is the red card. The causes of the red cards are mostly stupid and clumsy, but the referee with the power to kick a player off the field has some kind of complex drama of a kindergarten teacher pulling a naughty child aside: a little assertiveness, a little heroism, a little unspeakable pity.

I told her that she only had to stare at the referee, and if someone was sent off, the referee would definitely pull out a red card, or a yellow card and then a red card, 2 yellow to 1 red, she knew that.

However, the question of refereeing arose.

Every time a Fiorentina player fell to the ground, if the referee didn't blow the whistle, the whole stadium was like a frying pan, and everyone was shouting "referee", including dad.

Bea had never seen this kind of scene where everyone attacked one person, and she seemed a little worried, "Why is everyone called a referee?" ”

"Because everyone saw the foul, he didn't see it alone."

"Why didn't he see it?"

"Because we can all make mistakes, and so can the referees."

"Why do we have to tell him?"

"Because he alone makes decisions for everyone. If we don't tell him that he made a mistake, he may always be wrong. ”

"Why does he have to make decisions for everyone alone?"

"Because it's more convenient for everyone."

Fortunately, Fiorentina scored early and created many chances, and the refereeing problem was quickly forgotten.

The stands we were in experienced the scorching sun in the first half, cold winds and sporadic rain in the second half. A municipal stadium like Florence, which has a small overall population (around 40,000 seats in a 40,000 stadium), has its cozy side. Right downtown, not too far walking distance from the stadium, the family atmosphere is strong, and at half-time some very young boys play in the open space behind the stands at the entrance of the stadium. Bea wanted to go to the bathroom, and I was a little embarrassed, but immediately at the door of the women's toilet, an enthusiastic female fan offered to accompany her in.

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Despite having declared himself a Fiorentina fan before admission, Bea does not know the names of any Fiorentina players. It's not a problem, being a fan is like anything, there are opportunities to learn live.

I explained to her, "Now the ball is more on the opposite side because Udinese may find Fiorentina to be very good on that side and keep attacking there. ”

"What do you mean very dish?"

"That is to say, he can't sing, a person sings badly, you can also say that his singing level is very good."

"What's his name?"

I really don't know, I don't have enough eyesight and can't see the numbers clearly. There was no printed line-up like the press box, and we were late and missed the pre-match loudspeaker to read the line-up.

"Biragi," the pot-bellied fan sitting in the front row turned around to help me with the little ones with answers.

It's certainly easier to remember goalscorers than rookie players. As in other stadiums, after Fiorentina scored a goal, the announcer would read the number and name of the goal-scorer over and over again, and then the fans would shout his last name in unison over and over again.

Bea was really lucky that she came to see Florence for the first time and participated in such ceremonies twice.

The first time was a little timid, her voice only caught up with the last round: "Gaitano...", "Castrovilli!"

The second time, she was already skilled and enjoyable, "Jack...", "Bonaventura! ”

Seeing her immersed look, I believe that she has truly experienced the baptism of football, and also remembers the words of the Italian poet Pasolini, "Football is the last sacred ritual of our time." ”

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On the way home, Bea asked me, "Dad, what did the Udinese players eat for lunch?" ”

"Maybe only bread, or canned rice and tuna."

"What about the Fiorentina players?" "Florentine steak, or lamb." One day last year, I had to explain to her the importance of eating beef and mutton as a child, and why Messi's Argentina won over Mbappe's France.

"Because Messi they ate beef, the French ate baguettes and snails."

It's hard to have a kid who doesn't like Messi, and neither does Bea. She started taking piano lessons more than half a year ago, and her favorite teacher Lorena is Argentinian, which adds to her closeness to Argentina.

However, after the World Cup, she often sees Messi's Paris Saint-Germain games played at home, and sometimes Paris plays very badly, Messi's team is losing, which affects the recipe a bit.

So I explained to her that despite the loss in Paris, Messi has always been Messi, and even though everyone else in Paris eats snails and baguettes, Messi still eats beef.

The day after the Fiorentina match, Bea announced on her way to school that she would tell the children that she had gone to the stadium to watch the game, and she is now a Fiorentina and Paris Saint-Germain fan.

However, when she returned from school, she added AC Milan to both teams. This option is a bit puzzling and can't find any clues.