The Game Before: One City's Soccer Obsession and Its COVID Crisis

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2021

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

The Italian town of Bergamo is fiercely loyal to its soccer team, Atalanta B.C. As the perennial underdogs made a run to the Champions League 2020 quarterfinals, Atalanta drew tens of thousands of Bergamo fans to hug, cry, sing and celebrate for their win. No one knew then it was the last time they’d gather like that. Just as fans returned to their homes, Bergamo became an epicenter of coronavirus infection that led to thousands of deaths. Sam Borden tells the story of how a tight-knit culture and fandom made Bergamo vulnerable to the pandemic. And how that very closeness, along with the hope of cheering Atalanta again, offers a path forward from devastating loss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So it's one year ago, February 19th, 2020.
0:10.7	This entire city in northern Italy is party.
0:18.0	It's a city called Burgom, about 120,000 people,
0:21.8	and the hometown soccer team named Atalanta is playing a huge match
0:26.1	against the well-known Spanish team, Valencia.
0:30.9	More than a third of the city is at the game going crazy.
0:35.3	The rest, they're cheering together at their home, restaurants and bars, cafes.
0:45.3	Igor Prusiani owns a bar in Bergamo.
0:48.3	He gives it the English name, Hog, like short for Hedgehog,
0:52.3	and he says everyone made plans to watch the Atalanta game.
0:55.5	He ran out of reservations for tables a month before.
1:09.1	You know, you need to understand that Atalanta is a total underdog.
1:14.7	No one outside of Bergamo paid much attention to it for most of its 100 years of existence.
1:21.6	This game was its first ever in the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
1:26.4	That's the top level of soccer in Europe.
1:29.1	And Atalanta kills it.
1:33.6	Al-Defar!
1:36.9	At the bar!
1:38.4	Atlante is a battalion.
1:40.3	Igor says they're exploding at his bar. He said, they're exploding at his bar.
1:47.0	Exploding with happiness.
1:50.0	Exploding with happiness.
	...

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