VareseNews and the refugees, a great performance both on and off the field

The match between VareseNews and the African refugees has been played. Like the Patagonian sagas told by Osvaldo Soriano, there is doubt over the final result. On one side, the journalists of VareseNews, claim they battled, tooth and nail, to achieve a draw, on the other, the African refugees will go on celebrating their victory, which they achieved well after time, thanks to absence of the final whistle from the referee, also one of the 43 African refugees staying at the Hotel Plaza. In any case, the final result was of little consequence. What was important was playing the match, taking an hour off to involve people who have few, very few opportunities of this kind. It was fun; tiring (they run a bit too much for former athletes, like us; some of us have never been athletes), but great.

Now to the “report” of the match: the first goal was scored by our Mazzoleni, with a deviation off a corner worthy of the fame of this former striker. The refugees quickly got organised, first drawing and then going ahead, to 4-1. But the VareseNews journalists refused to give up, and drew level with two goals by the intern Sgarbi, and an opportunist goal by Guidotti. Then there was the “foul” by the referee, who delayed the final whistle in the middle of an attack by the refugees, who managed to break through with a somewhat dishonest goal. The best player was the phenomenal Sgarella, in goal. Those of us who thought of him as a quiet family man, with few sporting ambitions had to think again after seeing him jumping around and daringly venturing forward. The refugees proved they were in excellent physical shape, and some demonstrated great individual technique. Among the ranks of the VareseNews journalists, the captain Michele Mancino, who was kept away by a contracture, was conspicuous by his absence, and the director Marco Giovannelli watched the match from the sideline. With errors, blunders, successful moves and a lot of sacrifice, the others played “well”: Camurani, Morandi, Galassi, Franzetti (a cross between Cellini and Troest), Mastrillo (who was to blame for the unjust goal at the end of the match), Bassani, a bruised Rotondo, and the above-mentioned Sgarbi, Guidotti, Mazzoleni and Sgarella. And so to the next match.