La Potenza Della Speranza e il Secondo Miracolo

Chapter 7: Argument

I reached the door of the aparment next to the goalkeeper, Negrini's, who had let in 3 rather soft goals in the last game. Next door to him lived Osvaldo Jaconi, the manager, who I had come to visit. I knocked on the door, and he pulled it open, then looked at me with a scowl as if he would prefer anyone in the world to be here but me. I could see why. I was obsessed with the team, and he would prefer not to talk about them when he didn't need to. But I had to anyway, because in the last match he had subbed Armando Di Sorbo who had been playing well, I knew I would have to ask him why, but I couldn't do it straight away, it would be considerered rude.

Instead I asked him what persuaded him to return to the little town in the heart of the Abruzzo. He said he loved the place, and he wanted to live here, even if it meant leaving Teramo's backroom staff. So it was a no-brainer. I then asked him who he thought was the best player in the team. "Sono tutte stronzate!" They are all s**t! I backed off sharply. He was not in a good mood, but I had to get answers out of him. Why was Di Sorbo subbed? He was the only man who could win us the game, for God's sake! I had to ask quickly. Jaconi rather unexpectedly replied in English, apart from the words he did not know. "He could not score in un bordello!" I had learnt enough Italian to, rather oddly, know that this meant 'a brothel.' Di Sorbo could not score in a brothel!

I had enough. Jaconi had no clue how to manage a football club. I could do better, even with my limited knowledge of tactics, I could do better! With this man in charge, we were doomed to relegation for sure.

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Chapter 8: Absence

Our next opponents were Teramo. They were usually a bottom half side but a strong start to this season (albeit only 2 games in) had put them 3rd. Teramo was located in the Abruzzo like us, but had over 10 times the population of Castel di Sangro. The stadium was roughly the same capacity as ours, 8000 people could fit in there. When we got on the team bud though, trouble began to brew. Jaconi was refusing to get on the bus! Mamma mia! What did he think he was doing? I began to push him onto the bus, and he lashed out at me. Sensing the danger, Bruno came over. But he asked me what I was doing. He explained that Jaconi would be travelling to Teramo, his hometown, on his own. He would not be attending the game.

After spending an hour on the coach wondering what kind of chairman let their manager out on the town before (and during) a key game, we reached the stadium. It was absolutely packed, and it is not often you get that in Serie C2, especially with a capacity so high. The Teramo fans were shouting and chanting for their side. Bruno was unexpectedly doing the team talk. A destra, mantenere le cose semplici. Nessuno si aspetta che vinciamo, andiamo a dimostrare il contrario!Right, keep it simple. No-one expects us to win, let's prove them wrong! The team was looking motivated, but we would have to wait to find out if they were motivated enough.

It didn't look like they were. Only 6 minutes played when Teramo knocked in the opener. A goal mouth scramble resulted in the ball being powered in, but it was disallowed by the arbitro and we were soon on top, but no doubt Teramo would come back stronger. Eugenio Taddei had other ideas. He picked up on a loose ball after Armando di Sorbo was tackled and powered it home! MAMMA MIA! 'CASTEL-O! CASTEL-O! CASTEL-O!' The away fans were delirious. And why not? We were leading Teramo!

Moments later, we almost had another. Taddei again with a chance, but his tame header was caught by the goalkeeper. And we got a corner a minute after that, and with it we could have scored again. Di Sorbo headed onto the crossbar, and the ball rolling back to Mazzilli, who put in a poor cross, but we were still on top and still leading. That's how it was when we got back for half time, and I could tell that the players wanted it more than Teramo. Their manager was quiet, not furious enough to give the hairdryer. He made some half time changes and we came back out, for the 2nd period.

They managed to keep more possession for the 2nd half. But for all the neat passing, it just wasn't Teramo's day. Our right back Gioy Scordella was forced off with an injury, and Teramo looked to exploit that position, but the Centre Back-cum-Full Back Levantino La Rovere was superb, and after winning the ball once again, played it to Taddei. He spotted the run of Di Sorbo, who was clean through on goal and scored! Due gol a zero! Two goals to nil! We were on the way to victory! For all Jaconi's comments, Di Sorbo had proven his worth. 'He could not score in a brothel!' said Jaconi, he had not scored in a brothel, he had scored in Teramo to embarrass the team which Jaconi held so dear to his heart. Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.

Only ten minutes remained but we were still carving out chances. Ruffini was played in but he couldn't get on the end of it and the keeper cleared it, straight out to Di Sorbo who hit the bar! So close! We had definitely won now, we only had to wait 10 more minutes, 600 more seconds. We were on our way to victory, and no ordinary victory either. Victory away from home.

Taddei was running down the wing, manned by two defenders who were trying to marshall him out of play. I shouted to the referee. "Come on Ref! That must be it!" Reminded by the man sitting next to me that the arbitro, Vincenzo Manna, who had also officiated our loss to Melfi, did not speak English. Bruno then did his bit, tapping his watch on the sidelines, and sure enough, we had beaten Teramo away from home! Taddei was ecstatic. He had received the MVP award, the man of the match. The whole squad was delighted. And who could blame them? The 3 points lifted us out of the relegation zone.

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