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Twenty years ago, Italian-Australians would have believed it was their birthright to watch their famed Azzurri competing in a World Cup.
But after Italy’s third consecutive failure to qualify that is not a sentiment shared by the young footballers at the Inter Lions Football Club in Sydney’s inner-west. Many weren’t even born the last time their ancestral country played in the world game’s premier competition.
A number of the Concord club’s young members hail from Italian families, and are second or third generation migrants whose parents or grandparents resettled in Australia.
Julian Micalizzi, 13, was just one year old the last time Italy played in the World Cup, the 2014 finals in Brazil.
“I’m one of the few generations who haven’t really seen Italy in a World Cup. I would like to see them play in the next one. Hopefully, I will,” he says.
But his allegiance sits more with the Socceroos than the Azzurri. “If I had to choose between the two … Yeah, it would be Australia.”
Julian’s dad and sister, 58-year-old John and 19-year-old Mia Micalizzi, find joy in supporting both teams.
“I hold both passports,” John laughs. He was born in southern Italy, and migrated to Australia with his parents at the age of three.“To hear both national anthems, it gets my heart going.”
Mia has played football since she was eight years old, and said she loved supporting both Australia and Italy.
“I do love watching both teams. It makes my heart feel good. It feels close to home,” she said.
From the early 1980s until the early 2000s, the Italian national football team was celebrating its most dazzling years.
Italy won the last of its four World Cup titles in 2006. Only Brazil, the great exponent of the ‘beautiful game’, has more. And yet, despite an illustrious football history, the Azzurri have not qualified for a World Cup in 12 years.
For years, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has been mired with problems, from flawed domestic development in youth football programs to institutional corruption.
Just this year, the FIGC faced a fresh crisis after allegations of sports fraud prompted an investigation by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Daniel Tosolini is a board director at Inter Lions, and his three children all play. His parents migrated from Italy to Australia in the 1980s.
Though the 44-year-old supports the Socceroos now, he still has a deep love for the Azzurri, and described their steady decline as “a joke” and “an embarrassment” for Italians.
He says he wants to be able to share his love for Italian football with his kids.
“It’s so disappointing my kids have never seen Italy in a World Cup,” he said.
Frank Ferraro, 46, is a technical director of the club, and a staunch fan of the Azzurri: “When Australia played Italy in 2006 [at the World Cup], I supported Italy.”
Though his daughter is only two, Ferraro said she will have no choice but to play football.
