Real Villasanta picks up where it left off: with a win

It took a penalty shootout to decide the Uisp Super Cup, which pitted the Tribe, the defending champion, against Real Villasanta, the League Cup winner just a few months ago. In the end, it was Ciccio Levati’s team that came out on top; Levati is now in his 56th season on the white-and-green bench: not even Queen Elizabeth II has lasted that long—though, it must be said, she certainly hasn’t won three league titles.

It was a hard-fought match played on neutral ground in Monza in front of about 250 spectators, most of whom had traveled from Villasanta by car, motorcycle, and whatever transportation they could find: some of them were forced to park in Brugherio due to the huge turnout. Among those absent without excuse was former star Giovanni Bestetti, who is reportedly in Oman for the weekend. Present, however, were, among others, Nunzio, who sat next to head fan Carlo Rolla, and Jalisse, who sported a cute toucan on his T-shirt.

The rather uneven field didn’t lend itself to attractive play, but the heat also played its part, and there were few scoring chances: in the first half, each team hit the crossbar once; in the second half, Real tried a bit harder, but the 0-0 score at the final whistle seemed fair enough all things considered. From the penalty spot, the winners converted four out of five, while the opponents missed two: one ball, struck with unprecedented force by a Rossoblù player, has not yet been found in the surrounding vegetation as of this writing; the other was confidently saved by the goalkeeper and was the one that, failing to cross the goal line, decided the match.

The team, delighted with the new trophy added to their collection, dedicated it to their beloved president, Sersi Marco Palazzi.