Toni is the star player of La Fiorentina, the Florentine soccer team, and is playing in the Mondiali (World Cup). People have been a little disappointed because he non ha segnato un punteggio (hasn't scored a goal) yet. But everything changed in tonight's game against the Ukraine.
In a little over ten minutes in the second half, Toni scored twice. I could hear my neighbors scream each time a goal was scored, so I knew the score without even looking. And when I looked at who marcato (scored) and saw that it was Toni, I was even happier.
Everyone knows that il calcio (soccer) is very important in Italy. People have parties, go to bars, and celebrate in the streets after a win. And for that reason, I didn't want to go out tonight. I knew that if Italy won, it'd be madness in the streets to celebrate Italy going to the semi-finals.
I went to a bar a few weeks ago for a drink and it was the first time I saw the entire place packed full of men watching the partita (soccer match) on the TV set hanging from the wall. There wasn't an empty seat left and I had to wedge my way into the bar to get to my drink.
On Monday, Dave and I went to the movie theater, where they were also playing the game on a TV in the bar area. We could hear the men scream when they segnato. After Italy won the partita that day, there were groups of young men with flags and drums walking in the streets screaming, "Italia, Italia!"
It is nice to see how happy the Italians are when it comes to the Mondiali especially since the players come from many different and competing squadre in Italy. And, finally the Florentines will be proud of their star player. Ce l'hai fatta! Toni...sei grande (You did it, Toni...you're great)!!
Italy will be playing on July 4th against Germany. Forza Azzurri!
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