Daniele - La Piazza

Some will say they are called professionals for a reason, because passion is something else. And perhaps that is how it should be: the fans provide the love, while the players simply need to bring professionalism. But when the two come together, they can sometimes produce beautiful stories.

Without being a fan yourself, it is impossible to explain what Totti meant to a Roma supporter, for example. Of course, the opposite can happen too. Legend has it that Franco Baresi grew up supporting Inter. "Uncle" Bergomi, as he himself admitted, was an AC Milan fan as a child.

But it is even more special when the magic happens. And for a fan, nothing beats celebrating the Scudetto in the city square. Piazza del Duomo, perhaps. The dream every summer is to reach the spring with a flag ready to wave in the Duomo.

In 2020, Inter had only one objective: to start winning again. The Scudetto had been missing for 11 years, the third-longest drought in Club history. It was also an unusual period, with the Covid-19 pandemic still shaping everyday life. The previous season, football had been suspended from March to May before resuming in the summer behind closed doors. There was something fascinating about it at first, with coaches’ instructions and assorted shouts clearly audible during live broadcasts, but before long a deep sense of melancholy usually took over. Even the concepts of home and away began to lose their meaning. With the effect of the crowd removed, matches simply became a contest of which team was stronger. And in 2020/21, not even Cristiano Ronaldo or Ibrahimovic could stand in Inter’s way. Inter was above everyone else. The team proved it in the spring’s head-to-head clashes, dominating them in substance even more than the scorelines suggested, and underlined it again with the draw at Crotone, when only mathematical confirmation was missing. One point in the next match would do it. Or Atalanta failing to beat Sassuolo the following day. And everyone knows that when Sassuolo has the chance to spoil things for one of the big clubs, it rarely backs down: 2-2, and Inter’s 19th Scudetto was secured at 7:30 PM on Sunday evening. A 10:00 PM curfew was in place across Lombardy, then classified as a yellow zone, and gatherings were prohibited anyway. Piazza del Duomo was nowhere near as packed as it would be in 2024 and 2026, but it was still quite a sight. Those paying close attention might have spotted a tall man, there with his partner and a stroller, wearing the required mask and celebrating with particular enthusiasm. The mystery was solved a few days later in a social media video posted by the man himself. It was Daniele Padelli, now 42, whose profession at the time was serving as Inter’s backup goalkeeper. Not just an Inter player, but an Inter fan. Ever since he was a child.

The team had the day off, there was a chance he would go unnoticed in the crowd, and he thought: why not? When will I ever get another chance?

And that is how Padelli spent the day Inter won the Scudetto, celebrating among his fellow supporters, who had no idea that the tall man beside them was, at that very moment, living out his childhood dream.