A Dream comes True – My Love for Juventus

Besides all my day hospital stays, the treatments I am undergoing and fighting for my life, I have learnt to enjoy life to the fullest and make the most out of it. To get a change of scenery and start ticking off some points on my bucket list, my mum arranged tickets to watch the last Italian league soccer match of Juventus in Torino.

Since I was a child my love for Juventus was inspired by my Italian family who are all hard core Juve fans, from my grandparents, my uncle, my cousins and my mum. Living in Germany I never really had the opportunity to go to the stadium to watch a match like my cousins, but I always heard many stories from my mum and uncle how they travelled all over Europe in the 70s and 80s watching Juve even play Champions League Finals. It was always a dream of mine to see them play and I was envious for never having had the opportunity to do so. Even last year (in 2015) when Juventus made it into the Champions League finals against Barcelona, I was keen to get tickets but unfortunately I had to stay in hospital for my chemo treatments. I was so knocked out by the chemo that I wasn’t even able to watch the final on TV. Actually, I didn’t miss much as most of you may know, Juve lost against Barcelona and it was less painful for me just to know the result the next morning.

Anyway, let me get to my actual recent Torino trip, which turned to be an experience I would have never expected or imagined.

My mum and I headed down to Italy on a Friday morning (after my irradiation at 8am in the morning). In the late afternoon we reached Torino, checked in at our hotel and then met up with friends for a very nice dinner. Our friends took us to Arcadia, a Restaurant in the middle of the historic center serving traditional Piedmont cuisine, which is frequently visited by many Juventus players. Hence, we headed for dinner at Arcadia trying to spot some celebrities. However, the chances of seeing them dining out a night before the match are not so high, and beside spotting the wife of Claudio Marchisio, a midfield player of Juve is currently injured, we had no further luck.

My Cousins and I

The next morning (Saturday 14 May 2016) we met up with my two cousins Matteo & Simone who drove all the way from Brescia just to see me and spend a few hours together before heading to the stadium for the match. We strolled through the historic center and went shopping at the Juventus Store. I spoiled them with two new Juve shirts of the next season (2016/17) that hit the stores exactly that morning. After some yummy lunch, my mum and I headed towards the stadium, whilst my cousins drove back home.

The soccer match started at 5pm and surprisingly the seating area for disabled people with wheel chairs is quite good and you can see the field well. It was such an exciting moment to see the team walking onto the soccer field, and us spectators singing the Juve anthem in the stadium. A totally different feeling being live there and not watching the match on TV or sing the anthem towards the TV.

Even though the match was the last one of this season, Juve already won the Italian Championship 3 weeks prior as they have been leading the league list by points ahead from the second team. It was nice to know that there would definitively be an award ceremony, but obviously it would be even nicer to see Juve win the match giving more reasons for celebration. And indeed, we were not disappointed as Juve scored 5 goals, and the match finished 5-0 (Juve – Sampdoria). The award ceremony was done immediately after the match and the stadium was on high celebration mood!

To top all that, there was another surprise organized by a dear Italian friend of mine, who knows some of the Juve players. He arranged a personal meet up with the Juve players after the award ceremony and after they had all showered. My mum and I were picked up from our seats and taken to the restricted area for players and staff only (and some other fans who have connections).

We had to be a bit patient until the first players arrived from their changing room, but it was definitively worth waiting for them. I managed to meet almost all players and take pictures with them, and also have a chat with them.

We spoke in German with Sami Khedira, who is from Stuttgart, and Mario Mandžukić who used to play in Diztingen (the local town where I live in Germany), and discussed the sad news of VfB Stuttgart (the soccer team) who was just relegated into the 2^nd league in Germany. I also showed Paul Pogba, one of the biggest French soccer talents, a picture of my grandmother imitating him on her 90^th birthday this year. He loved the picture and couldn’t believe he had such an “ancient” fan.

Thanks to Andrea Barzagli

I have to thank Rena and the defense player Andrea Barzagli for making this all possible, and making one of my dreams come true. There are no words to describe what emotions I felt meeting my favorite team. The highlight of that night was holding the Championship cup, a special one as it is the 5^th one in consecutive that they won. After such an eventful day we returned back to our hotel late, and crashed into bed after a quick room service dinner. The entire night I dreamed of singing the Juve anthem and choirs such as “I Campioni dell’Italia siamo noi!” (translated: We are the Italian Champions).

The following day was another day filled with Juve moments and experiences. My grandmother and uncle drove all the way from Brescia to Torino to meet us at the stadium, as my Mum organized a stadium tour for us. My 90 years old grandmother has expressed several times the wish to visit the new Juve stadium, and we now finally had the occasion to fulfill her wish. We enjoyed the tour of the stadium, being showed the premium members area, and the private lounges, as well as visiting the changing cabins of the players. To conclude the tour, we visited the Juve museum as well before my uncle and granny headed back home. My mum and I finished the day with some shopping in Torino and reflected on the amazing weekend we had spent together. Simply an unforgettable weekend!

At the Juve Stadium with Mum, Nonna & Uncle