On Tuesday we head to Florence to face Fiorentina. Florence without a doubt is the most beautiful city in Italy, a great cultural city with a tremendous footballing heritage and passion. When I was a kid the name associated with Fiorentina was Giancarlo Antognoni. Antognoni is their “King Kenny”, a legend for the club who was also instrumental in Italy’s 1982 world cup victory. The 1980 song below sung by the Italian singer Pupo even mentions Antognoni and Fiorentina in his tribute to Florence.
But of course art is everything in Florence, during the Renaissance the great masters Michelangelo & Leonardo Da Vinci created some of the greatest art masterpieces. However on Tuesday Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard & the rest of the Reds will eclipse all these masterpieces with their brand of football artwork.
Javier Mascherano is sick while Yossi Benayoun, Andrea Dossena & Alberto Aquilani are all injured however Nabil el Zhar & Danny Agger might both feature.
Kick off is at 7:45 PM UK Time
Le luci spente delle due di notte
The lights turned off at 2 a.m.
passa un barbone con le scarpe rotte
a vagrant with ragged shoes is passing by
la notte qui non e’ come a Milano
the night here isn’t like Milan
o a Roma, sempre pieno di casino
or in Rome, always noisy
fra quasi un’ora arriva “la nazione”
in about an hour the local newspaper will arrive
un ferroviere fischia una canzone
a railway worker is whistling a song
una signora senza suo marito
a lady without her husband
la guardo bene, e’ solo un travestito.
I take a good look at her, she is a transvestite
Firenze S. Maria Novella sogna
Florence’s Santa Maria Novella is dreaming
povera ancora di vergogna
still shamefully poor
sembra lo specchio della sua citta’
it seems to be the mirror of its city
Firenze S. Maria Novella almeno
Florence’s Santa Maria Novella at least
mi fa sentire un po’ sereno
makes me feel somewhat better
e il portafoglio non mi rubera’
and no one will steal my wallet
i primi pendolari la mattina
the first commuters arrive in the morning
quest’anno e’ forte la tua Fiorentina
this year your “Fiorentina” is strong
la colazione con i bomboloni
Doughnuts for breakfast
e guai a chi parla male di Antognoni
and don’t you say anything nasty about Antognoni
raggio di sole arriva il nuovo giorno
a sun beam, the new day has arrived
gente che va giurando un ritorno
people that leave the city always promise to return
perche’ a Firenze sulla mia parola
because in Florence, take my word for
non vedi niente in una volta sola…
you don’t get to see anything in one single visit…
Firenze S. Maria Novella e’ festa
Florence Santa Maria Novella is a feast
per lui che va per lei che resta
for him who leaves, for her who stays
per un amore che ritornera’
for a love that will return
Firenze S. Maria Novella scusa
Florence Santa Maria Novella, excuse me
spero di farti una sorpresa
I hope to surprise you
quando la mia canzone sentirai…
when you’ll hear my song…
Please don’t call him Danny.
Nice poem ;)