Italian fans were ecstatic about their Euro cup victory in the summer of 2021 and it brought a sense of unity to the community.
But Italy didn’t manage to qualify for the World Cup for the second straight time, after losing 1-0 to North Macedonia in qualification. This means that many Italian-Canadians have shifted their focus to Team Canada.
“I’m not very happy about it but stuff happens and we’ll go all in for Canada,” Selena Maripusso said.
Maripusso is an employee at Evangelista Sports in Vaughan, Ont. The store is popular with local Italians in the area, offering various types of soccer jerseys and other equipment.
She said business was impacted by Italy’s elimination from the World Cup, something many people probably wouldn’t have noticed.
“We ordered hundreds of jerseys before the qualifications happened and now we are left with too much in stock so we had to put them on sale,” Maripusso said.
Italy has played a key historical role in the world of soccer, winning four World Cups, only behind Brazil, which has five World Cup victories.
“The World Cup without Italy is like going to Rome without seeing the Colosseum,” the former Italian icon Francesco Totti told a television network.
The World Cup is to be watched by a billion people regardless of which teams are competing. Many Italians are still having a hard time trying to understand how their team managed to get knocked out of qualifying so unexpectedly.
“In soccer, anything is possible, especially when it comes to international competitions,” said Andrés Garcia, another employee from Evangelista Sports. “Italy certainly underestimated their opponents and didn’t look hungry enough to qualify.”
Garcia said the Italian squad underestimating opponents was a big factor, but Maripusso said injuries also played a big part in the upset.
When Italy played at the Euros last summer, fans in Woodbridge, part of Vaughan, celebrated together at the Market Lane Shopping Centre after every game.
Market Lane is in the heart of Woodbridge where hundreds of fans gathered to watch Italy win the World Cup in 2006. But this year, Italians from coast-to-coast-to-coast will be cheering for the country that their families immigrated to many decades ago.
Stefano Commisso is an Italian Canadian who was born in Canada. He’s a huge Italy fan, but he’ll be cheering for Canada this year.
“Some Italians want to stay loyal to their home nation but I believe that if you were born in Canada you have the duty to cheer on Team Canada,” Commisso said.
Commisso is currently playing soccer for Inter Milan Academy in Toronto and hopes to be able to play for Canada one day.
Team Canada will certainly be trying to make a name for themselves in their first World Cup since 1986, after losing by the slimmest of margins against Belgium, the world’s number two squad.
With a lot of young names and stars such as Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David, a top two finish in the group is still a realistic goal. Team Canada will be needing the support of everyone in hopes of getting something special out of this World Cup.
“We all want Italy there but let’s focus on Canada, maybe in four years time we’ll be back celebrating in Market lane,” Maripusso said .