In 2006 they were too small, colored babies with green, white and red cheeks planted in front of the television, more concerned about diving into the chips than the long run at the end of which, on the last penalty against France, Fabio Grosso would have given us the World Cup. For those who are twenty years old today , for Gen Z, the memories of that blue triumph, the last one before the European Championship on Sunday evening, have faded and you want to reassemble the puzzle of the frames that cross in your memory, between what you have really seen live and what came later, highlights for future reference.
Being twenty today – but also fifteen, sixteen and so on – and winning a European – winning it like this, in the magical night of Wembley– it means taking back a piece of life, that life that for more than a year has been silenced by the lockdown, by the sentimental distancing from everything. Thousands took to the streets (with few masks unfortunately), we saw them, crossed paths, envied them.
Waving tricolor flags, singing “po-popopopopo-po” in chorus, jumping shouting “whoever doesn’t jump English is / who doesn’t jump English is”; but above all to scream their own happiness, that joy that at twenty is unique, special, unrepeatable. At twenty, the future seems to never end. Precisely that future that – hostage to the pandemic – Italian teenagers wrote in the solitude of their rooms and recorded in a file, of those that are forgotten somewhere on the screen, who knows when we will return to open it.
Here, that moment has come. Donnarumma’s saves, Bonucci’s goal, the triumph of the Azzurri: all passwords useful to reopen the future, to give it back as a gift to these guys. We all live with memories to be lined up, also punctuated by the epic moments of a rolling ball. Winning this European Championship, for Gen Z, also means getting even with the older brothers, with who was there on the day of the last triumph before this one with whom, that 2006 World Cup, remembers it well, as well as remembers the collective party that was unleashed – yesterday as today – in the cities of Italy.
They were children who looked without seeing, as happens at that age, distracted by a world that was taking shape around them. Today they are almost men, adolescents that the pandemic first held in a motionless time and then pushed forward, with an acceleration that only the generations that grew up after the war have known. Time – for Gen Z – started running again, they started mixing again. In sport, in football, you can win and you can lose, but when you win, luck is to recognize yourself in the same horizon. So – for real – may this victory be a sweet memory for our boys to keep, the memory of a new beginning. Never like this time: freedom – to be happy – is participation.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
