EURO2012 JUNE 30, 2012
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Has this been the tournament of Euroredemption? It has been impossible to follow Euro 2012 unaware of political frissons, and the echoes of the other Euro, as the European Union undergoes its gravest crisis since Treaty of Rome in 1957. “Greece Leaves the Euro” was one cheeky London tabloid headline after the Greeks were beaten 4-2 (it had to be Germany who beat them). And you will have noticed that three of four semi-finalists were Pigs, the unlovely acronym for the “Club Med” countries, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, which do not seem to have been ordering their public or private finances in the most ethical fashion, and who now want the tab picked up by industrious and unwilling Germany.
In another way there was redemption. Despite my earlier quotaion from Miss Prism, the good have ended happily, more or less. The teams playing attacking open football—Portugal, Spain, Italy—have overcome teams embodying defense, sterility and negativity, and that has been on the whole the pattern throughout the tournament. For Italy “redemption,” has a special meaning. Yet again—what else is new?—Italian domestic soccer is mired in scandal. Some players were dropped from the squad under the shadow of yet another match-fixing affair, though Cesare Prandelli, the manager, modified his scruples enough to play Leonardo Bonucci, also under investigation, who did indeed defend most doughtily against Germany on Thursday.
Both Italian goals were things of beauty, and both were scored by a man who, in domestic games, has often been greeted by rival supporters singing “There are no black Italians.” We all know Mario Balotelli can be a pain in the neck, but he’s a combination of Socrates and Gandhi compared with those Italian fans. Good as his first goal was, its only begetter was the peerless Pirlo, surely the man of the tournament or MVP. That’s an Americanism, but then Gianlucca Vialli, one of the BBC’s less irritating talking heads, compared Andrea Pirlo with a great NFL quarterback. It might seem a stretch, but there’s a touch of Joe Montana in the way he can take the ball back a few paces, create his own pool of space, and then make the play just as he damn well wants.
So these Azzurri come from a country whose prime minister suggested recently that domestic soccer should be suspended for a season to take the stink off. During the Great War, Italian soldiers used to sing “Ch'ella mì creda libero e lontano/ sopra una nuova via di redenzione!…” Dick Johnson’s mournful aria in La Fanciulla del West when he thinks he’s about to be lynched, praying that his beloved Minnie may believe he’s gone away to a new life of redemption. If the Italians win, they could sing it too. Their country could do with a little redenzione—and so could all of Europe.
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This is better. And read and learn. Sabut theMario Mario Balotelli: The Jewish Hero of Euro 2012? Tras la visita a Auschwitz, dos goles de un judío sacan a Alemania de la Copa Europea (en Inglés) Italian star adopted by Jewish parents. Por: Sammy Hudes Fuente: Shalomlife.com Vie Jun 29 2012 (9 Tammuz, 5772) Mario Balotelli's two goals on Thursday didn't just propel his Italian squad past Germany and into the Euro 2012 finals to face Spain while setting off a wild celebration of Italian supporters, but his performance was also a source of nachas for the worldwide Jewish population. For a religion that never shies away from acknowledging its own prominent celebrities, the Italian soccer hero and Manchester City striker is no doubt an unlikely, but now very much appreciated and welcomed member of the Tribe. Balotelli, in fact, wasn't born Jewish. He was born to Ghanaian immigrants in Sicily in 1990, and as an infant suffered from life-threatening health complications. With his family unable to provide him with the proper medical assistance, he was put up for adoption at two years old and entrusted to Francesco and Silvia Balotelli, his Jewish foster parents. The Balotellis were a white family who lived in a villa in a small village near Brescia, in northern Italy. At first, he stayed at the Balotellis during the week and returned to his family on weekends. He eventually grew closer to his foster family and took their surname. Two days before the start of Euro 2012, he and his Italian teammates paid a visit to Auschwitz. There, Balotelli sat by himself on the train tracks and appeared more struck than anyone else on his team by the surroundings, according to journalists. Throughout the tournament, Balotelli has coped with being the victim of racist abuse, as Italian neo-Nazis have spread hateful messages on the internet claiming he should not be allowed to play for Italy due to his background. "Balotelli's black and Jewish. He should play for Israel not Italy," wrote a US-based website called Stormfront, run by white supremacists. The website was closed down in Italy by Jewish authorities following complaints regarding racist posts about the Italian striker. Italy's coach Cesare Prandelli called the racism "a social problem"rather than "an Italian problem." After Balotelli vowed to walk off the pitch prior to the tournament if he suffers racist chanting, Prandelli declared that "if Mario gets any problem, I will give him a big hug on the pitch." During the tearful visit to Auschwitz, Balotelli told his teammates about a box of letters that his Jewish adoptive mother, Silvia, kept underneath her bed. On Thursday, he dedicated his two-goal match against Germany to Silvia. "At the end of the game when I went to my mother, that was the best moment. I told her these goals were for her," he said. "I waited a long time for this moment, especially as my mother is not young anymore and can't travel far, so I had to make her happy when she came all the way here." La Dirección y Consejo Editorial de "Foro Judío", no se hacen responsables de los contenidos de artículos firmados por autores, periodistas o sus seudónimos, a la vez que el autor de este artículo no se responsabiliza de los contenidos de las diferentes secciones de esta WEB, ni de los criterios establecidos por su Dirección o Consejo Editorial. 0 OPINIONES DE PARTE DE NUESTROS LECTORES OPINAR ARTÍCULOS RECIENTES Rickey Henderson: "El Rey del Robo" Vie Jun 29 2012 10:10:30 (9 Tammuz, 5772) La Mannschaft fuera de la Euro: Crónica Alemania vs Italia Jue Jun 28 2012 13:45:36 (8 Tammuz, 5772) Crónica Portugal vs España Jue Jun 28 2012 09:12:09 (8 Tammuz, 5772) Noticias Curiosas sobre la Eurocopa 2012 Mie Jun 27 2012 17:05:17 (7 Tammuz, 5772) Sarah Hughes, Campeona Olímpica de Patinaje Artístico Sobre Hielo Mie Jun 27 2012 10:32:47 (7 Tammuz, 5772)
- JAIMECHUCH
July 1, 2012 at 5:13am