If everything in the world were explainable a fundamental part of our life would be missing, exactly that made of wonder and a pinch of magic. We are made of emotions. In an increasingly hyper-controlling world, few things remain to resist to categorization of rigid definitions and which, fortunately, do not yield to mathematical formulas. Football is a perfect example of this, by its nature it lends itself to twists and turns, unexpected events, individual creativity and personal interpretation of playing. Whether it is played in official stadiums, in sports or improvised fields, and in courtyards with deflated balls, it has the power always to reinvent itself and no formula will ever explain its freedom.
I see many players as stubborn dreamers, who don't want to give up until they see their dream come to the net.
I leave aside the controversies that are very often related to football, for example too many economic interests and the industrialization of the category and I want to refer only to its primordial essence: joy, fatigue, sweat, physicality, creative thinking, the positive values of sharing, that football that knows how to unite people of different nationalities. The essence of the game of football is well represented by Carlo Carrà in the painting "Football Match" of 1935 (today at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Rome), where, during an action in the penalty area, the ball remains suspended in midair between the two teams and the goalkeeper. It is a suspended moment that speaks to us of conflicting emotions: they will be joyful if the ball goes into the net and frustration in the event of a missed goal. We are made of emotions, whatever they are, that's why most people like football.
In literature, many personalities have been interested in the football phenomenon, among others Giacomo Leopardi, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Umberto Saba and Marc Augè. Just this latter French ethnologist and anthropologist, in 1982, wrote an essay, Football, in which he invites everyone, especially some intellectuals indifferent to the subject, to consider football as an all-encompassing social phenomenon. Football is the popular sport par excellence that involves all social groups with a common feeling mixed between enthusiasm and participation, with a very high sense of sharing because each person recognizes himself in the community and in the awareness of belonging to a community. Football is an anthropological and social phenomenon capable of moving the masses, which is able to offer a lot of information about society and culture.
On 13 January 1910 the Italian national football team was born. ParkTime and I Parchi Letterari wants to celebrate this anniversary because since that day the national team has become a sort of institution in our country. In his palmares we find four world titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), a European title (1968), a gold medal and two bronzes at the Olympic Games (1936, 1928, 2004) and, thanks to the excellent recent results, obtained by Roberto Mancini and his entire team, the Azzurri returned to the top ten of the Fifa ranking.
The Italian women's national team was founded many years later, exactly in 1968, the grit and determination led the players to great results, let's not forget them at the 2019 World Cup when they reached the quarter-finals, exactly like 28 years before, with some incredible plays.
Our national team gave us unforgettable moments that belong to the personal memory of those who lived them at that moment but also to the collective memory, which will carry them with them into the future.
Thanks to all of you players and technicians who with your magic and creativity have made the emotions of all of us immortal. Among the many here is a selection of those unforgettable moments that will remain in history for eternity: Italy vs Germany 4 - 3, the most beautiful match ever at the World Cup in Mexico 1970, between emotions, spectacle, fatigue and a lot of suffering, with a wonderful ending with Gianni Rivera's goal and a hug to Gigi Riva; in Italy - Brazil 3 - 2, in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Zoff made an incredible save on Oscar's header and gave the victory to the Azzurri; the unforgettable magical nights of Italia '90 illuminated by the eyes of Totò Schillaci; at the 2006 World Cup in Dortmund, Italy overtook Germany in the semifinals, closing the match with a fulminating counterattack started by Fabio Cannavaro and ended by Alessandro Del Piero, with an exciting and joyful liberating shout from the many Italians present at the stadium; returning from Madrid in 1982, the World Cup is on the flight with the Azzurri while Sandro Pertini and Massimo Bearzot play their historic card game.
Dear National team, it is a fact that you will still give us many emotions, in the meanwhile we will continue to kick the ball because it is a gesture of freedom and joy and above all of wonder.
Annalisa Nicastro
Cover by Carlotta Patrizi
C/O Società Dante Alighieri 
