Headed for a hike in the Lepini moutains southeast of Rome, we came across this apartment building, festooned with Italian flags to celebrate Italy's presence on the World Cup stage, on the outskirts of Rome in June, 2010. We hadn't seen anything quite like it, and we turned the scooter around to capture the image.
Almost a year later, as we're showing it to our readers, it has another meaning than the celebratory one on its surface. It was taken in the morning on June 24. Just hours later the Azzurri (the Blues) would lose a crucial game to upstart Slovakia in the closing minutes--the final score was 3-2---and Italy would be eliminated in the "group" stage of the competition, before the Round of 16 in which the Italian team had been expected to participate--as usual. It was a crushing and humiliating defeat for a proud soccer power with a distinguished history--and, we have no doubt, a bitter disappointment for the residents of this building. Bill
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