Napoli Are Serie A Champions For The First Time in 33 Years

Napoli Are Scudetto Champions! Forza Napoli! 

Neapolitans have grown up in a city full of mysticism and miracles—even in sports. This time on the pitch, three is the magic number! In 2023, S.S.C. Naploli won their third Scudetto (Serie A championship), which translates to “shield”, 33 years after their second win in 1990 during the Diego Armando Maradona Era. The era of Maradona also included the 1987 Scudetto and the immortalized player was part of a team of champions with Careca, Carnevale, Alemao, and Zola.

In a city where keeping the bad luck away is everywhere, this is more than a stellar triangulation. The city has dropped its traditional scaramanzia (actions to ward off bad luck), which usually include not claiming victory before having secured it, and started the celebrations weeks in advance! Even so, the 2022/2023 Serie A Italian Football Championship season has ended with the Scudetto secured in the solid hands of S.S.C. Napoli’s Club and you can count on thousands of fans celebrating the redemption of a city long without a championship.

There is no room for disappointment today. Nothing can dampen the enthusiasm of the city or the Neapolitan people. Only a few months ago Naples saw a vivid protest against President Aurelio De Laurentiis—nephew of Dino, the famous Italian-American film producer of blockbusters such as Titanic and King Kong—due to the simultaneous sales of key players Ospina, Koulibaly, Fabian Ruiz, Mertens, and Insigne. The sales had raised fears about the Club’s competitiveness. But the fresh arrivals of fellows Kim, Simeone, Olivera, Anguissa, Ndombele, and Raspadori—the latter author of the decisive goal against the Juventus team just one week ago—have completely made up the Neapolitan people’s minds that this Napoli Club could build something truly important.

In fact, even if the Club missed the qualification for the 2023/24 Champions League Cup edition a few days ago, this hasn’t changed the good mood under the slopes of Vesuvius. The Azzurri, led by coach Luciano Spalletti, forgot the disappointment and were right back to concentrating on the closing season of the Italian Football Championship. The economic aspect will also have a strong impact on the Club. Only in Lega Calcio Serie A prizes and for UEFA qualification, winning the title means revenue of about $ 33 million.

According to the daily newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Naploli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has set a further Scudetto award for the team and manager Luciano Spalletti: “This extra prize was wanted by De Laurentiis himself; there was no request from the team,” the article announced.“It is a free choice of the president who wants to reward this group. So there will be no negotiation. De Laurentiis will decide how much to allocate as extra contract prize for his players. No one knows the amount, only the President does.”

In the immediate future, Napoli will celebrate a never-ending party with thoughts and hearts turned to the late and revered Diego Armando Maradona, who arrived in Naples from F.C. Barcelona at the end of the 1980s, becoming a football god. Today, Naples lives in a triumph of photos and murals dedicated to Diego, who died quite young under very sad circumstances almost three years ago. Before his death, Maradona thanked Jorit, creator of the most beautiful murals dedicated to him, posting a photo of the mural on his Facebook profile with the message, “Thank you Jorit! Thanks Naples! We are a Human Tribe! The red marks on the face symbolize this concept.” The town is painted blue. The streets are full of smiling, singing, jumping people. For a while, all problems are left behind and the soccer party is the happy common denominator. Today is the feast of Naples, the feast of a people in search of joy!