Saturday, June 30, 2012

Italianism

They could write, as in fact they did,  many psychological and sociological essays on what being Italian means. Wasted time. Attempting to analyze the inexplicable is impossible. The study of other nationalities  can help to clarify what a Spaniard, a German, a Scandinavian, even a Japanese person is. Not an Italian. The Italian is a mixture of Dante, Riina, Berlusconi and Benigni. They could display cowardly qualities like Schettino or super courageous ones like Quattrocchi or Calipari. Or all these things together! The element that unquestionably distinguishes Italians is their adaptability to different situations. A change from the worst to the best in beat of an eyelid. When asked "Are you proud to be Italian?" The answer can only be "the point is not whether to be proud, but to understand that ... I do not know if I am anything, but if I am something,  that bit I owe to being Italian". This is demonstrated by the "Azzurri" managed by Prandelli and before that those managed by Lippi and Bearzot: Gentile, Oriali, Grosso, Gattuso, Balzaretti, Bonucci, Barzagli. Not the most physical, certainly not the most technical,  not even the most sympathetic. Simply Italian