Soccer is wildly popular in Italy -- so much so that it is a nightly feature on the national news. The maze of professional teams -- social, city, regional and national--is a mystery to most outsiders and something of a reflection of Italian society itself. However, you don’t have to understand all of the sport’s inner workings to enjoy watching a match now and then. It might just be the perfect way to get a glimpse into Italy’s enigmatic culture.
Buy tickets at least a week in advance. If it is a high-profile match, try to get them even earlier. Serious rivalries include Roma vs. Lazio, A.C. Milano vs. Inter Milano, and Internazionale vs. Juventus (also known as the Derby d'Italia). Accordingly, their stadiums are some of the best places to take in a match. Tickets can be purchased at a team's store, which is usually located in their home city. Tickets range in price, often starting at 15 euros and going up to more than 100.
Bring snacks, but not drinks. Food is usually allowed into the stadium, but liquids are not. Why, you ask? Because Italian soccer fans have a habit of throwing items onto the playing field, and a full, capped water bottle makes an ideal projectile. You can buy water and other beverages at the stadium, but the vendor will remove the top for you.
Bring cigarettes (or cigars) if you smoke or a gas mask if you don’t. Italians are apparently immune to lung cancer and therefore smoke liberally. While most American sports arenas ban smoking in the stands, Italian stadiums do not, so just about everyone around you will be lighting up.
Be prepared to enthusiastically cheer for the home team when they do well and verbally abuse them when they don’t. In general, American sports cheers are uplifting, urging the beloved team on to further success. In contrast, Italian cheers employ every foul word in the language. These cheers are used to insult the opponent, to berate sub-par performance by the home team and to express dislike of any player who happens to incur the fans’ wrath.
Practice your hand gestures. At an Italian soccer match, you will see more spontaneous gesturing than in most other places in the world. There’s the prayerful hand wagging and the indignant arm jut. These are often accompanied by a forceful “Mama mia!” or one of the aforementioned foul words.
Keep track of the scores of other teams that are playing at the same time. Score updates are posted throughout the game, and the fans around you will be nearly as happy that their deadly rival is losing as they will be that their own team is winning.
