Here is an Italian lady that I respect, looking at soccer.

"An Italian dissociating herself from her country which is crazy for the
football busienss

As an Italian, it has always frustrated me that my country is known
abroad only for football players (plus pizza, mandolino and spaghetti, and
mafia indeed, and luckily landscape and sea, when it is not spoiled by
Italians . You then go to a remote Indian village or to an Iraqi town
(when it was possible) and people say “Ah! Italy!...Roberto Baggio”,
that was some years ago, now they would say “Totti”. Never they told me
“Ah, Italy!...Leonardo da Vinci!” ; or “Ah,
Italy!...The best vegetable farmers!” or “Ah! Italy!.. very good
doctors!”. And so. My last sadness came in Monday the 10th: in Rome, a
public meeting with the Minister of Water of Bolivia, such a wonderful man
of such an hopeful government, there. Well, he ended his speech by
congratulating with Italy for the games!

Being identified as an Italian with a ball and eleven richissime men
running after it, was always frustrating, even before the “calciopoli”,
the last scandal of the Italian football. Since longtime this is no more
a sport but a business, and it is incredible that poor Italians go mad
for billionaire players and corrupted also. Italians (mostly men but
increasingly more women) identify themselves with those players and say
“we won!”. The football all over the year is the only subject of
discussion in the cafeterias and such, here.

Of course the “tifo” (a word which indicates both the madness for
football and a disease) is a way to distract people from the true problems;
the classical “opium for peoples”. Even my leftist comrades, even
people committed against the war and such, forget about the huge huge
privilegies of the football people and go mad.

Also, as you know, the “tifo” is full of racism in Italy. During the
last World games I heard people – gathered in the streets in front of
common tv - telling “monkey!” to the French Black players or to the
Mexican arbiter. I sincerely hope that Fifa will do something against the
Italian team after Zidane was insulted in some way (talis “tifoso” qualis
player).

I would have been happy if the Italian team had lost since the
beginning. I look forward the world forgets about Italian football, mafia and
mandolino.

I look forward the day when the discussions in the Italian cafeterias
would be about peace and war, ecology, geostrategy of oil, and how to
make the dry tomatoes and other self-made wonderful things. But it will
not be for tomorrow. Meantime, I dissociate myself from this mad Italy."