Sport in Italy

The Italian national football team at the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

The San Siro stadium in Milan.

Football is the most popular sport in Italy.[2] The Italian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006), trailing only Brazil (with 5) and level with Germany (with 4). Serie A clubs have seen success in the Champions League (formerly the European Cup), the premier European club competition, winning it twelve times. The Italian word for soccer is calcio, "kick", taken from the name of Italy's traditional football games, as opposed to being adapted from the English name football or soccer, as in most other languages. Often, Italian children can be seen playing on the street with friends and relatives.

The history of football in Italy gives much of the explanation behind why it has remained such a popular sport today. The first record of an Italian football team goes back to 1893. This team was named FC Genoa. The sport was brought to Italy through the Romans, who used to play a very similar game called harpastum, which included two teams aiming to score on their opponents side (hands could be used along with feet). Years later, the Renaissance brought about big changes for not only the art and culture of Italy, but also for sport. Specifically, Florence was the spot where the most changes occurred. Football of the past was different then it is today because teams were much larger with 27 people. Also, the games were only 50 minutes long. Today, the games consist of two 45 minute halves. The Italian National team first began playing in 1910 in the FIFA World Cup.[3] To the surprise of many fans, the Italian National Team did not qualify for the tournament in 2017. This was the first time in sixty years that the team did not make the World Cup after losing to Sweden. The loss was published in popular sport newspapers in Italy such as La Gazzetta Dello Sport, which is one of the largest selling newspapers in Italy.[4]

Stadiums have also become more than a place to watch a football game today. All across Italy, stadiums now include various different things such as museums, shops, and restaurants for the people attending the game to enjoy. Italian football stadiums also host other venues such as concerts, rugby matches, and field and track.[5] Italy takes pride in their football stadiums and have some of the most well-known in the world. Most Italian stadiums have stadium tours where children six and under are allowed to go for free . The Milan and Internazionale (more commonly known as Inter Milan) stadium, which is also known as the San Siro stadium, has the biggest seating capacity in Italy with 80,018 seats.[6] The stadium has the worldwide nickname of “La Scala del Calcio.” It is also known as the "Giuseppe Meazza" stadium after the Italian star, Giuseppe Meazza[5]. The San Siro stadium has hosted four UEFA Champions League finals. Another famous stadium in Italy is the Stadio Olimpico. This stadium is the second largest in Italy and is where the rival teams AS Roma and SS Lazio play. The two clubs meet twice a year and the matches between these two clubs are known as the Derby della Capitale (Derby of the Capital). Also, the Stadio Olimpico holds the Coppa Italia Final[6].

Being a football country, Italy has some all time great players that have played for them. Fabio Cannavaro played professional football from 1992 to 2011. He is among only one of three defenders to have been named FIFA's Player of the Year. Cannavaro won the award in 2006 which is the same year he also helped Italy reach the finals of the World Cup. Another one of Italy’s all time great football players was Dino Zoff. Zoff played goalie for Italy, and at 40 years old he became the oldest player to win the World Cup. Also, Dino holds the record for the longest time without giving up a goal at an international tournament with 1,142 minutes. His club play includes six Serie A titles. After retiring from playing football, Dino later became a coach. Another great Italian football player was Giuseppe Meazza. Meazza scored 33 goals in his 53 World Cup appearances. Meazza has the second most goals scored for Italy all time since he is only two goals behind Luigi Riva. Giuseppe won two World Cup’s with Italy as well as winning three Serie A titles and one Coppa Italia title.[7]

Athletics is a popular sport in Italy, because Italian World or Olympic champions are very celebrated people. There are many national and international events every year. Amonngst the most famous Italian athletes, there's the sprinter Pietro Mennea (1952-2013) who held the 200 metres world record (19:72) for 17 years from 1979 to 1996 and is still holder of the European record.

Swimming champion Federica Pellegrini in 2009.

Among the more popular are:

• Swimming
• Synchronized swimming
• Diving
• Free-diving
• Sailing
• Boat racing
• Rowing
• Water skiing
• Surfing
• Water basketball
• Water polo

2012 Giro d'Italia

Cycling is a well-represented sport in Italy. Italians have won the World Cycling Championship more than any other country, except Belgium. The Giro d'Italia is a world-famous long-distance cycling race held every May, and constitutes one of the three Grand Tours, along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, each of which last approximately three weeks.

Two of the five 'Monuments', the oldest and most prestigious one-day races on the cycling calendar, are located in Italy: Milan–San Remo, held in March, and Giro di Lombardia, held in September or October.

Some of the most successful Italian road cyclists have been Costante Girardengo, Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali, Alfredo Binda, Felice Gimondi, Fiorenzo Magni, Mario Cipollini, Francesco Moser, Marco Pantani, Moreno Argentin, Paolo Bettini, Michele Bartoli, Gianni Bugno, Alessandro Petacchi and Vincenzo Nibali.

Virtus Bologna's fans of "Curva Calori" in PalaDozza, 2018

Italy is one of the main basketball nations in Europe, along with Spain, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, Lithuania, Croatia, Russia, Turkey, and France. It has a long and rich tradition in the sport. The Italian national basketball team's best results were gold at Eurobasket 1983 and EuroBasket 1999, as well as silver at the Olympics in 1980 and 2004.

Until the 2000s, the Italian League was considered the strongest domestic league outside of North America. It has recently been overtaken by the Spanish ACB, but is still one of the top leagues in Europe, along with the VTB United League in Russia with teams in other nearby nations, the Greek Basket League, the Adriatic League, and the Baltic League. Its clubs have won the most EuroLeague championships (13), the most FIBA Saporta Cups (15), and the most FIBA Korać Cups (10).

Famous Italian club teams include Olimpia Milano, Virtus Bologna, Pallacanestro Varese, Pallacanestro Cantù, Fortitudo Bologna, Victoria Libertas, Pallacanestro Treviso, Mens Sana 1871, Virtus Roma, Pallacanestro Trieste, JuveCaserta and Scaligera Verona.

The Stadio Flaminio during a rugby union match in the 2011 Six Nations Championship, between Italy and France, which resulted in an upset victory for Italy.

Rugby union enjoys a good level of popularity, especially in the north of the country. From the 2010–11 season, Italy has had two teams in the Pro12, previously an all-Celtic competition, involving teams from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. To accommodate this move, the country's National Championship of Excellence effectively became a semi-professional developmental competition. The two Pro12 sides took up Italy's existing places in the elite Europe-wide club competition, then known as the Heineken Cup and now as the European Rugby Champions Cup, and four Eccellenza sides compete in the second-tier European Rugby Challenge Cup. Italy's national team competes since 2000 in the Six Nations Championship, and is a regular at the Rugby World Cup, despite having yet to pass the group stage. Italy are classed as a tier-one nation by World Rugby.

Rugby union in Italy goes back around a century, and it has been established that British communities brought rugby to Genoa, between 1890 and 1895, with other confirmations of games in Italy around 1909. The society that organised the first games did not survive long and dissolved soon after them.

Rugby union's traditional heartland consisted of the small country towns in the Po Valley, and other parts of Northern Italy.[8] One version says that Italian workers returning from France, particularly the south, introduced the game there, and gave it a significant rural/working class base, which still exists in towns such as Treviso and Rovigo.[8] A demonstration game was also played in 1910, in Turin between Racing Club Paris and Servette of Geneva. French students also introduced the game to Milan University c. 1911. While each of these events has been hailed as the "origin of Italian rugby", it seems that they probably happened more or less simultaneously and independent of one another, and that the introduction of rugby to Italy was a series of events, rather than a single starting point. Whatever the ultimate origins of the game in northern Italy, the region's proximity to the French rugby heartland helped as well.

Alberto Tomba, one of the most successful alpine ski racers of all time.

• Alpine skiing or ski (sci) is a very popular sport in Italy, with more than 2,000,000 skiers, most of them in the northern regions near the Alps and in the central provinces near the Apennine Mountains. Italian skiers have achieved good results in the Winter Olympic Games, World Cup, and World Championship, most notably Zeno Colò, Gustavo Thoeni, who won 4 Overall World Cups between 1970 and 1975; Piero Gros, who was Overall World Cup champion in 1974, and Alberto Tomba who won the Overall World Cup in 1995. Tomba, Deborah Compagnoni, and Isolde Kostner received many medals in different editions of the Winter Olympic Games. Giorgio Rocca and Manfred Mölgg won the Slalom World Cup in 2006 and 2008 respectively, whilst Giuliano Razzoli was Olympic slalom champion in 2010.
• Cross-country skiing is popular in northern Italy, with the likes of Stefania Belmondo, Manuela Di Centa, Franco Nones, Marco Albarello, Silvio Fauner, Giorgio Vanzetta, Giorgio Di Centa and Federico Pellegrino.

Francesca Schiavone, 2010 French Open singles title winner

Tennis has a significant following near courts and by television. Italian professional tennis players are always in the top 100 world's ranking of male and female players. Beach tennis with paddle racquet was invented by Italians, and is practiced by many people across the country. Italy won the Davis Cup in 1976 and the Fed Cup in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2013. Italian players such as Sara Errani, Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci and Francesca Schiavone have entered the WTA Top 10 in their careers. Schiavone was the first Italian player to win a Grand Slam singles title, winning the 2010 French Open; she was later followed by Pennetta, who won the 2015 US Open. The doubles duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci have accomplished a Career Grand Slam in doubles, have been named ITF World Champions 3 years in a row (2012, 2013, 2014) and have ended every season since 2012 as World No. 1. The Italian Open, held since 1930, is one of the oldest and most respected clay tournaments in the world after the French Open.

Italian people in PalaPanini for Italian Volleyball League

Volleyball (pallavolo) is played by a lot of amateur players.

The Italian Volleyball League and Italian Women's Volleyball League are held since 1946. Modena Volley won 12 neb's titles, Volley Treviso nine, and Parma eight. Teodora Pallavolo Ravenna won 11 women's titles, Bergamo eight, and Audax Modena five.

In the CEV Champions League, Modena and Treviso won four titles each, Porto Ravenna and Trentino Volley three, Parma two, and CUS Torino and Volley Lube one. In the CEV Women's Champions League, Bergamo won seven titles, Olimpia Teodora Ravenna Sirio Perugia and Matera two each, and Modena and Casalmaggiore won one each.

The Italy men's national volleyball team won the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship three times, the FIVB World League eight times, and the Men's European Volleyball Championship six times.

The Italy women's national volleyball team won the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship once, and the Women's European Volleyball Championship once.