I remember a few things from the year 2000, it was a somewhat particular year for some reasons, it started with the fearsome Millennium Bug, I still remember that on December 31 1999 people were all worried about what the world would be like shortly after, blackout, banking crisis, shutdown of all systems, there was more concern than desire to celebrate the new millennium... it was also the year when my parents had moved to another region and then I would have had to follow them, even if in the end everything fell through luckily... not things you remember fondly anyway. Instead my dearest memory from the year 2000 is the European Football Championship final between Italy and France, when football was still a very important part of the daily life of young people. I watched it with my family, including my grandparents and some school friends at our house. It was evening, so as per tradition pizza for everyone and before the start of the match so that everyone could be in the living room on the sofa, chairs and armchairs. The living room lit only by the TV, chips, sodas and snacks everywhere, a final does not happen every day.
At the beginning of the match we were all excited and a bit nervous, all a bit like coaches in commenting on the lineups. Every dangerous action by Italy made our hearts race or made us jump from our seats or hold our breath, sharing these emotions with others was without a doubt beautiful, you were not alone talking to yourself, it was a sharing of emotions. When Delvecchio scored, we exploded with joy: screams, people grabbing each other and shaking each other hard, chips flying... It seemed like the living room was moving, and it was not just us, the whole building, actually all the buildings around, people at the windows shouting...
Ahead one to zero the last minutes of the match arrived and right at the end of extra time came the cold shower: first the equaliser, then the golden goal by France in extra time. In an instant the joy turned into sadness and disappointment: hands on shoulders sharing that sad moment, together. Despite the defeat it had been a great different evening, full of emotions, spent together with many people. Beyond the football match the beautiful thing was being with the people you cared about, laughing, rejoicing and also despairing with them. Even comforting each other after the defeat is part of the pleasant memory, because at least you were not there swearing alone.
Even today thinking about that evening I smile... evenings like that can no longer happen, either because the family has changed, the friends have gone, Italy is terrible now and will no longer reach a final, so that remains a nice memory... It is a simple evening, nothing special for others, but for me it remained engraved in my heart.
And then we took revenge in 2006 That evening was even better ahahah
Photo of the tree in the center taken this weekend
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