Without Diego swirling devotions around him and away from tonight's heroes -who are celebrating in Udine, 850 kilometers from Naples-, the Neapolitans finally gave free rein to the delirium of the "festa Scudetto" that they had been celebrating, with droppers
,
since weekend.
Because this third championship for
Napoli
, 33 years after the last one and with a team that does not include
Diego Maradona
, was desired as never before.
But this Thursday, as soon as Udinese-Napoli ended, nobody cared to assess the tie.
On the
Piazza del Plebiscito
, where the daily life of Naples beats, the fireworks lit up the sky as in the first second of every New Year.
Party in Naples, the land of Maradona.
Photo: AFP
With ten minutes to go before the end of the game, in the
Largo Maradona,
the square dedicated to Diego that this Thursday night was crowned by the screen that allowed Napoli to be followed, the colored flares tinged the expectation of overcoming 1-1 with a smoke that clouded the plays.
"The capolista is ne va, se ne va"
("The first on the list is leaving, is leaving"), the fans chanted.
For the second time in four days,
the historic center of the city was closed to cars and became, like Sunday, a pedestrian area
that was a land of hugs, tears, flags, bugles and blue smoke flares.
Despite the rain that drenched the city intermittently since Sunday, the homemade memorabilia that adorns the streets as if the three million Neapolitans celebrated their birthdays at the same time, resisted.
Party and madness in Naples, the land of Maradona.
Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
From the pedestrian
Via Chiaia
, "I Gradoni", the steps that lead to
Quartieri Spagnoli
-the neighborhood that will not sleep tonight and where Diego
has murals and his own small square-
, preserves the parade that has been threatening for days with a thank you that, finally, it came true this Thursday:
"I Gradoni ringraziano i campioni"
("The huge steps thank the champions") says the sign, in white and light blue, behind which, every hundred meters, the names and the number of the jersey of each player of the team.
There is a celebration at the door of Massimo Vignati
, the Neapolitan who turned the basement of his house, in the Secondigliano neighborhood, into an underground museum of Diego.
Vignati was a boy when, in July 1984, Maradona was presented to 80,000 Napoli fans.
“My dad was the mayor of the San Paolo stadium and my mom was his only cook.
She was their governess ”
, he recounts.
The relics of Massimo Vignati.
Photo: AFP
Massimo's sister was Dalma and Gianinna's nanny and he, little by little, treasured relics of his god.
He retains the bench where Maradona changed in the San Paolo locker room -which today bears his name-, he kept the contract that brought him to Napoli and even the sofa that Diego had at home.
“Diego surely put his hand and asked the Eternal Father for the Argentine and Neapolitan people. That is why Argentina is world champion and Napoli is Italian champion. In this is the hand of Diego. Priceless. It is an immense joy ”
, says Massimo to Clarín.
This Thursday, the landscape at the Diego Maradona stadium, where the draw with Salernitana on Sunday left the 60,000 Neapolitans present choking on the scream of champions, is unusual.
He filled up, but without anyone stepping foot on the grass or rolling a ball.
Madness in the streets of Naples.
Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
The president of the club, Aurelio De Laurentiis, had giant screens planted around the field so that, for 5 euros, the tifosi could follow the Udinese-Napoli game that was played away from home. However, 18,000 Neapolitans occupied the stands of the stadium from Udinese, which is eight hours by car from Naples.
In the city that now celebrates,
the doors of the stadium opened at six in the afternoon and a curiosity
: even knowing that Napoli could become champion on Wednesday without playing -if Lazio did not beat Sassuolo, as it happened-, the Neapolitans They sold out the tickets to see the game on the giant screen as soon as they went on sale.
Maradona, omnipresent in Naples.
Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
There are still five agonizing dates left for this championship that already has an owner
.
"It will be strange and incredible that I, after Maradona, lift the Napoli Scudetto," Giovanni Di Lorenzo, the team captain, admitted a few days ago.
In January 2016, when the points sweetened Napoli's position in the table, Maradona promised them:
"If Napoli win the Scudetto, I'll go by helicopter to celebrate
. "
That championship, however, was kept by Juve.
But on this Thursday night, in an effervescent and happy Naples like it hadn't been seen in decades, more than one named Diego and looked up at the sky.
Naples.
Special envoy.
look too
Napoli champion: the southern team won its third "Scudetto" after 33 years
look too
Napoli champion of Serie A: this is how the sky of Naples lit up after the consecration
The emotional post by Claudia Villafañe who celebrated the Napoli title with Donato De Santis: "Heaven is celebrating"
Party in Naples: this is the city after the Napoli title after 33 years of waiting