Napoli Clinched the Serie A Title for The First Time In 33 Years Today And Southern Italy Is Going PAZZO Tonight. Fans Had To Be Reminded NOT To Take The Party To The Volcano
The Guardian- This was not the stadium where Napoli had hoped to seal their Serie A title but after a 33-year wait you can make any place feel like the promised land. There are more than 500 miles of road between the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and Udinese’s Dacia Arena, and thousands of supporters travelled them to be present when their team crossed the finish line.
Who saw this team coming? Not the Napoli fan who interrupted Spalletti’s squad presentation event in July, screaming at him to “wake up!” The perception was of a team at the end of an era. Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly and Fabián Ruiz were all being allowed – in some cases forced – to leave, and it was not clear yet who would replace them.
Spalletti is the man who knitted them all together, a manager for whom this moment feels overdue. He won a league title with Zenit Saint Petersburg in Russia in 2010 but in Italy, despite being credited as one of the great tactical innovators of a generation, he had never gone beyond the two Coppa Italia triumphs and a Supercoppa he claimed at Roma a decade and a half ago.
He is, at 64, the oldest manager to win Serie A, and at times he has confessed to being dazzled by his own team. After a win over Sassuolo in February he highlighted a moment when Napoli lost possession from a corner and every single player tore back at full speed to prevent a counterattack.
“In 25 years of management I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said at the time. It had been even longer than that since anybody saw Napoli become champions of Italy. A 33-year wait has come to an end.
Southern Italy, and Naples back on top! And don't think they wouldn't jump all over the opportunity to go nuts on a Thursday night. Bars slammed, parties in the streets, and fireworks up and down the coast.
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They're even dropping kids!
It's been 33 years since Diego Maradona helped vault Napoli to the top ranks of European and Italian soccer. As big of a scumbag he might be, he'll always be revered in southern Italy, and idolized, for helping make the region respectable and putting them on the map.
This year has been crazy for the club. They started out undefeated for more than a month. Something like 17-0-2 in their first 19 matches.
They wore yellow bibs that had a phrase from one of the super fans' favorite songs to sing printed on them: “I will be with you, and you must never give up.”
They looked like they were going to make some real noise in the Champion's League but they got smoked by Milan last month which eliminated them.
But scoring the one point they needed tonight in this match locked up the Serie A Championship for them, and the party didn't take long to start.
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The fans needed to be reminded not to party on Mt. Vesuvius too. You might think that its common sense to not party on an active volcano, but you just don't party.
ESPN - Napoli fans preparing to celebrate the club's first Italian league title since 1990 have been told to steer clear of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that overlooks the southern city of Naples.
Park authorities became concerned at reports that Napoli's fanatical fans planned to set off flares to light up Vesuvius in the Italian national colours should the team clinch the title on Sunday, branding the stunt dangerous.
"We are all pleased for Napoli's success which will bring honour to our region and great joy for people," said Vesuvius park commissioner Raffaele De Luca.
"But the celebrations must remain within the limits of civil behaviour," he added.
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