Planet Soccer

CBCSports.ca soccer expert John F. Molinaro is on vacation in Rome for a month. While there he plans on eating a pile of prosciutto, soaking up the warm Italian sun and watching a lot of soccer.

One of my dreams was fulfilled Wednesday night when I personally witnessed one of the greatest rivalries in all of soccer: Italian giants AS Roma versus Lazio in the legendary "Il Derby della Capitale" (the Derby of the Capital).

Roma posted a thrilling 3-2 victory over their city rivals Lazio in a game that had everything a soccer fan could possibly want: beautiful goals, imaginative play, tension and drama, and tremendous atmosphere.

And let me tell you this: nothing I have seen in my 30-plus years of watching sports can compare to the Roma-Lazio derby. Nothing.

I sat along the third-base line for Game 3 of the 1992 World Series between Toronto and Atlanta at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre), the first game ever in the history of the Fall Classic to be played outside the United States. I can't even begin to count how many times Labour Day showdowns between the Ticats and Argos I attended at Ivor Wynne Stadium. I've seen playoff games at Maple Leaf Gardens and the Air Canada Centre, as long-suffering Leaf fans hoped in vain that the club's Stanley Cup drought would come to an end.

I witnessed AC Milan's penalty shootout victory over Juventus in the 2003 Champions League final at Old Trafford, watched Manchester United battle Arsenal at Highbury, and saw Wolves win promotion to the Premiership with a playoff victory over Sheffield United at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

The atmosphere on those occasions don't even come close to matching what I experienced Wednesday night while watching the latest edition of Il Derby della Capitale unfold from my seat in the Tribuna Monte Mario section of Rome's Stadio Olimpico.

There's just no overstating the importance of the Roma-Lazio derby, and if you think I am blowing smoke here, consider the fact that Thursday's morning's edition of Il Corriere dello Sport, emblazoned with the front-page headline "Roma, derby d'oro" (Roma, derby of gold) dedicated no less than 13 pages (13 pages!!!) of coverage to the game.

It's hard to imagine the Toronto Star or Montreal Gazette giving 13 pages of coverage to a Leafs-Habs playoff game, much less a regular-season contest between the two Original Six rivals.

A full 90 minutes before kickoff, I can hear the singing of the curva Sud (where the hardcore Roma fans sit) and the curva Nord (home to the Lazio supporters) as I the walk across the Ponte Duca O'Aosta bridge, which stands high about the Tiber River, and make my way to the stadium. Getting across the bridge is no simple task. Thousands of fans carrying banners and waving their team scarves pile on to the street while cars, motorini (mopeds) and buses zoom by.

I get to the other side of the bridge, but I now face the daunting task of crossing Lungo Tevere, the most dangerous street in the city. Even on a red light, cars and the motorini don't stop, and fans headed to the stadium have to dodge the traffic as they cross the street.

I get past the security check and enter the long marble corridor, festooned with statues down both sides, that leads to the stadium. All the while, the singing and chanting of the tifosi (fans) inside the stadium grows louder and louder.

One inside, I take my seat and am treated to a rich pageantry of sight and sound. Both curvas are in excellent voice. They trade insulting chants and songs, set off fireworks, and light flares. It's an unbelievable spectacle.

The Lazio fans hiss when a commercial with Francesco Totti, Roma's captain, comes across the electronic scoreboard. A nagging ankle injury prevents Totti from playing, and he is forced to watch the game from the stands.

"There's only one Francesco Totti," sings the curva Sud as il capitano (the captain) takes his seat. Lazio fans unmercifully heckle Totti with crude chants about his wife, model and television star Ilary Blasi.

The game begins with Roma asserting itself early but it squanders an early scoring chance when Brazilian winger Amantino Mancini fires a shot high over the net. Lazio marches right back down field and forward Tommaso Rocchi capitalizes on an error by Roma defender Philippe Mexes and drills the ball into the far bottom corner of the net.

It's 1-0 to Lazio after only 11 minutes and the curva Nord erupts.

Lazio's lead is short-lived, however. Just eight minutes after Rocchi's goal, Serbian striker Mirko Vucinic finishes off an exquisite passing play with Mancini by firing a low shot past Lazio goalkeeper Marco Ballotta.

It's 1-1 and the curva Sud explodes. It is absolutely throbbing with delirium, pure electricity. Flares are lit, songs are sung and more firecrackers are set off.

My friend Massimo (a Roma fan) and I hug, as fans all around celebrate by feverishly jumping up and down, and I am bowled over into the row in front of us, and I somehow avoid knocking over a young girl.

The game is now being played at a breakneck pace and the tackles are coming in fast and furious. A Lazio player tumbles to the turf in pain after a tough tackle, but the referee doesn't award a yellow card and the curva Sud insults him (and his mother!) as he's writhing on the ground.

Then, with three minutes left in the half, Mancini finds some open space and belts a shot into the Lazio net. 2-1 for AS Roma, as the curva Sud explodes and I am again bowled over again by the sheer force of the celebrating fans behind us.

Lazio comes out on fire at the start of the second half and the curva Nord is at its loudest, but it is quickly silenced in the 56th minute when Simone Perrotta taps the ball into an open net after receiving a perfectly chipped pass from Vucinic. 3-1 for Roma.

The game appears to be over but Lazio strikes back with 21 minutes left in regulation when Christian Ledesma curls a free kick over the Roma wall and in off the underside of the crossbar. 3-2 for Roma.

The final 20 minutes are tense. The curva Nord is deafening, pleading with Lazio to move forward in search of a tying goal. The curva Sud is just as loud, begging Roma to boot the ball out of play when ever a Lazio player encroaches inside their half of the field. The sound in the stadium hurts my ears.

Finally, after three minutes of injury time, the referee blows the final whistle and the north end of the stadium physically shakes as Roma fans celebrate the club's first victory in the derby in two seasons as the strains of Italian singer Antonello Venditti's "Grazie, Roma" (Thank you, Roma) blares over the public address system.

I soak it all in. The curva Nord applauds the efforts of Lazio, while Roma players run over to the curva Sud to celebrate with their fans. It's 30 minutes since the game has concluded but nobody has left the stadium. Incredible.

Such passion and such devotion and I come to understand what the locals have been telling me since I arrived in Rome: that the Roma-Lazio derby is much more than a game.

It is a bitter, passionate rivalry between two teams who are fighting for bragging rights in the Eternal City. It is a thrill-a-minute joyride that should be experienced by every soccer fan at least once in their lifetime.

Thankfully, I can now say I have.

Be sure to check back with CBCSports.ca next week to read John F. Molinaro's full-length feature story on the Roma-Lazio derby.

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