September 14, 2001

Respect for the USA in Italy as the Italian women’s soccer season kicks-off amid a somber mood.

Mario Rimati

Forty-three European countries, including Italy, today observed three minutes of silence as a sign of respect and solidarity to Americans for the tragic episodes in the United States. Rome's subway came to a halt as well as many businesses and political institutions, including the senate, parliament and presidential palace. The U.S. Embassy, located on Rome's famous Via Veneto, was also the scene of a moment of reflection as several people came by to deposit flowers on the embassy’s lawn and to pay their respects. The scene was rather moving as many broke out with"America the beautiful" (your correspondent's fiancée currently works there). Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni, an admirer of the U.S. and an author on several books on the Kennedys, was at a ceremonial wreath-laying ceremony for the victims in front of the U.N. 's Food and Agricultural Organisation. He said that if other candidate cities were to agree Rome would drop its bid for the 2012 summer Olympics in favour of New York.

Italian women's soccer was also not spared this sad moment. The official presentation of the 1st and 2^nd division championships was organised today at the press office of Rome's Olympic stadium. Mrs. Natalina Ceraso Levati, the president of the Italian Female Soccer Division, asked the 200+ people who were present to kindly stand and observe the three minutes of silence. Not a peep was heard throughout the room.The microphone was then handed over to Mr. Guglielmo Petrosino, the secretary-general of the Italian F.A., who circumvented the issue of soccer in general and stopped instead to reflect on the recent events which took place in the U.S. Past ceremonies have always been a joyous occasion for wome's soccer as they have also included the presentation of awards to the winners of the championship (Torres), the Super Cup winners (Bardolino) and the league's leading goalscorer (once again Patrizia"“The Scorpio" Panico) but given the unusual circumstances only the names of the winners were read aloud. The actual presentation of the awards and photo opportunities were spared this time round.

The 1st division championship begins on Saturday 15^th followed by the 2nd division on September 30th. Mrs. Levati expressed the thought that perhaps the world of sports could also contribute to the peace in the world in her justification of why the leagu's opener will not be postponed (unlike UEFA which came under harsh criticism as it chose to go ahead last Tuesday with the staging of several men's champion league matches such as the one between Roma and Real Madrid at the Olympic stadium).

This year's 1st division will included 14 teams and for the very first time will also see Torres partake in UEFA's champion’s league event along with the winners of several other European countries. Plans appear, according to Mrs. Levati, of a possible international club cup event too. Mrs. Levati pleaded with media representatives for more exposure in order for women’s soccer in Italy to thrive (there was absolutely no mention though of Italy's rather poor showing at the recent European championships which certainly fuelled the media’s apathy toward this sport). National team head coach Carolina Morace was not present due to prior commitments.

There are some new faces in this year's league: Tavagnacco (a team located in Udine, famous for its men's 1st division club. Readers from the University of Connecticut's Team may recall having played against this club in Udine during the summer of 2000), Como and La Piazza.

Following is the complete list of the teams

Agliana

Bardolino

Como

Tavagnacco

Fiammamonza

Verona

Gravina

La Piazza

Milan

Oristano

Ludos

Lazio

Torino

Torres

First matches

Agliana v Bardolino

Foroni v Gravina

La Piazza v Lazio

Ludos v Como

Milan v Fiammamonza

Tavagnacco v Oristano

Torres v Torino

The big changes player-wise this season have seen Torre' Rita Guarino and Daniela Tavalazzi, both long-time national team members, switch over to Lazio. Lazio will now have up to 9 national team members. Guarino and Panico up front will certainly form quite the formidable team of attackers as the club is certainly aiming to be a very serious contender for the" scudetto", the championship title.