The sun shines brightly on Naples, clear and warm, like on holidays. And yet, on this post-match Monday, there is a bitter contrast between the blue sky and the draw that has slowed Napoli's run. The 2-2 against Genoa is not a result like the others. It is a wound that does not drip with anger, but a silent, mature disappointment, that insinuates itself into conversations in bars, in family chats, during breaks at the hairdresser.
The feeling is that of having given a lot and having collected little. For many, the performance against the rossoblù was among the best of the year. Napoli dominated, built, created. But Genoa, arriving at the Maradona without much pressure, played as if it were the World Cup final. «But what did these people come to do, the Champions League?», blurts out Gennaro, a season ticket holder for twenty years in Curva B. A common complaint: only against Napoli do the teams seem to transform.
Yet, this time, the disappointment did not explode into anger. It remained there, composed, like a city that has learned to live with pressure. Also thanks to the measured words of Scott McTominay, who after the match said only: "We must not panic." A few sentences, but pronounced with the firm gaze of someone who knows how to keep a group together. From there, a motto went viral among the fans: Keep calm and trust McFratm. It has become a collective state of mind, a perfect synthesis between support and trust.
Umberto, who followed the match from Distinti, says it with conviction: “You can’t win them all, but if you play like this, you win almost all of them.” And while memes featuring McTominay's calm face invade social media, in the alleys and on the subway platforms you can breathe the pride of those who don't give up.
«This team needs to be supported now – says Franco, 59 years old – not when it's easy to win. They blacked out for ten minutes, but what do we do, massacre them? even the Maradona has chosen: few whistles, many applauses. Because this time Naples knows that the scudetto is built like this too, in the cement of trust, in the silence after a joke, in the right word said at the right time.
Article published on May 12, 2025 - 15:47 pm
