Rome and the 2001 Scudetto, 20 years ago the Giallorossi party

On 17 June 2001, Rome graduated for the third time in its history as Italian Champion. It was sunny that day, the summer heat accompanied the many Roma fans who flocked to attend the last day of the championship against Parma, decisive for the award of the Scudetto. All together, united by the Giallorossi faith, thousands of people head towards the Olympic Stadium just to say: “I was there, I saw, I lived”. After the suffered draw in Naples that had prevented Roma from exulting prematurely, the match against the ducals, which boast players of the caliber of Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram, Sergio Conceicao and Marco Di Vaio, promises not to be easy. But that June 17, nothing and no one could put a spoke in the wheels of the Capitoline: 19 minutes were enough for Francesco Totti to cold Buffon and run under the Curva Sud. An indescribable joy for the Romanist people. The successive goals of the airplane Vincenzo Montella and Gabriel Batistuta realize a daydream that leads to an anticipated invasion of the field by the fans, which almost cost Rome the defeat at the table and the farewell to the title. The goal of Marco Di Vaio at the end is useless, now it is done: at the triple whistle of the referee Braschi the stadium is a bath of crowds and flags, a party that began on the lawn of the Olimpico, passed through the pit of the Circus Maximus and continued throughout the summer between flags, carousels, songs and choirs. A revenge against the Lazio cousins ​​who only 11 months earlier had graduated as Italian Champions Immediately after witnessing the triumph of the Biancocelesti Franco Sensi, then president of Rome, put his hand to his wallet, eager to give the Romanist side of the Tiber a title that had been missing for 18 years. In a short time Walter Samuel, Jonathan Zebina, Emerson and the ‘bang’ Batistuta arrived at the court of Fabio Capello. A hot square like Rome finally had the staff to aim high. The charge is played by ‘Pluto’ Aldair, who at the beginning of the season commented on Lazio’s success as follows: “I didn’t suffer so much for their Scudetto. I think about the faces they will make when I win it. That is this year”. Never was a prophecy more true. Stronger than all of them even than the historical rivals Juventus, against whom Roma played the key game for the Scudetto on 6 May 2001. Capello and his team present themselves in Turin with a six-point lead over the Old Lady, but after just 6 minutes they are already 2-0 down. It seems the beginning of a nightmare, the usual story that repeats itself, were it not that Don Fabio at the 33rd of the second half does what no one would expect: outside captain Totti and inside Hidetoshi Nakata. The Japanese scored the 2-1 goal with a splendid shot from outside and propitiated the 2-2 by Montella, quick to take advantage of Van der Sar’s clumsy rejection. The awareness acquired in that match paved the way for a historic success, which after 20 years is still alive in the minds of all the Giallorossi present that day. Rosella Sensi: “Dad’s eyes shone with joy” “At 20 from the third Scudetto of Roma, the first memory that comes to my mind of that day is my father. I want to thank him who allowed us to live this moment of immense joy. I would always like to thank him. ” It is the moving memory of Rosella Sensi, former president of Roma, at Adnkronos, 20 years after the third championship, strongly pursued and wanted by her father, the then president Franco Sensi. “The memories of that June 17th 2001? The last minutes and my father’s apprehension when there was that sort of invasion. There was concern, but then at the final whistle we hugged with the family, my father’s eyes they shone for having given this great happiness to the Roma fans “. Tommasi:” We hope those moments will come back soon “” The joy was already almost at the entrance to the field, because the stadium was full of flags and it was felt that it would be a day Unfortunately, the season had gone on and there was a meltdown immediately after the game and we were not able to enjoy sufficiently what today still remains a beautiful memory for all of us. The problem is that when you remember a 20 years old, it makes you think that too many have passed, it is the sweet and bitter memory. 20 years have passed both for us and for Roma, we hope those moments will return soon “. It is the memory of Damiano Tommasi, Roma midfielder of the third Scudetto, at Adnkronos. “I was to celebrate 20 years of the 1998 World Cup in France in 2018, then France put another piece and another date to remember winning the World Cup in Russia, who knows, we hope … “, added Tommasi with a smile. “We will meet up with someone from the team but we are always in remote contact with everyone, beyond the country where one lives there is also the time zone, some are in Japan, others in South America, we cover all continents. With Eusebio (Di Francesco, ed), however, we will definitely see each other, we are closer, now he is in Verona “, concluded Tommasi.Veltroni:” It was my baptism of fire as mayor “The third title of Rome, 20 years ago” was my baptism of fire as mayor. I had recently been elected and I even risked missing the party because while Roma were playing against Napoli I was in the hospital for an appendicitis. Fortunately the party took shape after the match against Parma and I was able to participate “. The mayor of the time, Walter Veltroni, who took office on May 28, 2001 and immediately grappled with the irrepressible explosion of joy in the capital from the afternoon of the following June 17, told Adnkronos. “Uncontainable, that’s right: and why on earth would we have to contain it? -Veltroni emphasizes-. I remember that we decided to accompany that joy with an ‘institutional’ eye but without intervening. On the other hand, when there is a joy of that type, nothing bad happens. mistaken”. Over a month of partying continues on the street “and not even a cobblestone was torn up, it was beautiful and I think it was a moment of joy even for those who did not support Rome. Never seen such a crowd at the Circus Maximus, perhaps only when we organized the party for the 2006 World Cup, even then a gigantic job. An atmosphere of continuous happiness and joy, not frequent in the city and which now has an even greater value, after the period we have passed “. Of the party at the Circus Maximus Veltroni he remembers only in moments of possible risk: “people climbed up the surrounding buildings: Sensi and I asked them to come down and we managed to convince them”. Zampa: “The crowning of a dream” “The memory I have it is an extraordinary year. I was lucky enough to live it both as a commentator and as a speaker. The crowning of a dream for which we all have to say thanks to Franco Sensi “. This is the memory of the third Scudetto of the Roma of Carlo Zampa, historic Giallorossi radio commentator and official speaker of Roma that year, at the Adnkronos, 20 years after that 17 June 2001. “A friend of mine had already rented a truck from week before with loudspeakers and whatever else – Zampa says – and at 3 in the morning he took me to Piazza Testaccio, made me repeat the formation of Rome-Parma on the microphone and in a few seconds the square was transformed into a small Olympic. that it was practically dawn, it was unforgettable “.