National
stereotypes are rarely funny, unless they are done by that magical madman Peter
Sellers - and then they are genius. But on the whole, dragging out clichis and tired old gags is not a very pleasing business.
It happened recently when West Ham fans upset the folks of Palermo,
and Sicily as
a whole, with their 'Hammers v Mafia' t-shirts for the UEFA Cup.
Although probably not meant as a major insult, those t-shirts didn't go down at
all well, and added some extra satisfaction to the sound thrashing the Irons
were given, from the 'Palermitano' point of view,
that is.
What made the 'Mafia' episode even more unfortunate is the fact that Sicily is still one of
the most misrepresented places you can imagine. It's a beautiful island, with
food straight out of heaven and some of the friendliest people in the world; in
fact, over half of the most-loved TV personalities in Italy are Sicilian, including the
hero-worshipped comedian/DJ Rosario
Fiorello. I! n short, it
doesn't deserve to be earmarked as the land that Marlon Brando's Don Vito Corleone fled in the Godfather films.
There has also been another string to its bow in recent months - good football
teams. After a genuinely unbelievable win by Palermo at the San Siro
on Sunday night, the side are now joint top of the
table with Inter on 15 points.
In the 2-0 defeat of AC Milan, Guidolin's team were amazing, playing an organised
yet fast-paced brand of football, suffocating Kaka and with him the majority of
his prompts and goal attempts. The two scorers for the 'Eagles' were the
always-dangerous Mark Bresciano (who made new father
Alessandro Nesta look like a right plum when he crept
in on the Italian defender's blind side far too easily to gleefully smash home
and then do his statue celebration) and the Brazilian Amauri,
whose goal came after Dida mishandled a Bresciano rocket shot late in the second half.
Away from home these Pink Sicilians really ! are a lethally good side, and they were well worth their
shock win in Milan.
For the home side Striker Alberto Gilardino was
practically invisible, and the chunky but woeful Clarence Seedorf
was quoted as being man of the match - for Palermo - by one cheeky pundit.
The irony is that this was the first match in which Milan had cancelled the pre-match 'Ritiro' the night before. It is a tradition in Italy that even
before a home game all of the players spend the night together on team HQ away
from their families in order to prepare for the task the next day. In the Rossoneri's case, a group of senior players, led by
96-year-old legend and club captain Paolo Maldini,
expressed a desire to abolish the 'ritiro' and spend
the night at home, as in the Premiership. The club granted their wish, and at
the pre-game training camp on Saturday there were only three people - manager
Carlo Ancelotti and misfiring forwards Gilardino and Inzaghi.
The subsequent loss showed that ! perhaps
the team had been too relaxed at home with t'wives
and children, and it remains to be seen whether the rule will be re-instated in
time for Milan's
next home tie.
The other Sicilian sides also made headlines at the weekend. Messina, a side renowned for their
ever-faithful fans, played a wonderful 2-2 draw with Empoli
on Saturday night, in which their Japanese star Mitsuo
Ogasawara became the first player from the Land of the Rising Sun to score in Serie A since February 2005. Managed by Bruno Giordano, an
ex-teammate of Diego Maradona at Napoli in the 'good
old days', the family-owned club are led on the pitch by the brave and
promising goalkeeper Marco Storari, who despite his
truly awful Barry Gibb hairstyle is one of the best up and coming goalies in
Italy, and their goals come from current league top scorer Christian Rigano, who is head of the goalscorers'
list with five already this season.
Messina are in a healthy ninth position, and
like Palermo ! are punching well above their
weight, all of which goes to show that the magical island of Sicily
is alive and kicking on the football front. Even classic whipping boys Catania are in 10th
place, holding onto a shot at the big time. It is a long, long time since there
have been three Sicilian clubs in the top half of Serie
A, and surely that is worth talking about more than links with organised crime