Joe Serci / SPP
“Hold on, they’re talking about the World Cup!” It was nearly midnight, and as my wife and I parked the car in front of her home in rural Tuscany, the radio signal finally started coming in clear. Between songs, the late-night hosts of a popular station Radio Deejay took a moment to shout out this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup ahead of Italy’s opening match. I quickly reached for the volume to hear what they were saying.
“The game is slower than the men’s game, but it’s more technical and you can see more,” explained the male voice over the radio waves.
My heart sank a bit. I knew he was trying to find a way to tell listeners why these games would be worth watching, but this is the reality of the women’s game in Italy. Calcio is a religion, and men’s club soccer along with the four men’s World Cup titles have long been the holy text. Women’s soccer, although it has experienced brief renaissances, has long eluded even those most passionate about the beautiful game.
Despite…
