Dozens of soccer balls that children have been missing for decades have appeared on the roof of a church in Italy

after The Azure They were left without the World Cup for the second time in a rowAnd the Several observers cited among the factors Italian football crisis The fact that there are fewer and fewer children playing in the street is one of the places where brilliant talent has traditionally appeared. So, maybe not by chance These days, a picture immortalized the discovery of dozens of soccer balls that had been lost over decades on the roof of a church.

The photo was recently taken in front of Church of San Tommasoin the middle Ascoli Piceno (Marx, center), has been circulating online for a few days. A crane appears with a worker cleaning the roof of the building. Downstairs, in the square in front of the church, they see Dozens of balls were recovered from the surface, some new and some new –the majority– Old and black with time. The photo was shared in a Facebook group for Ascoli residents and from there it was taken to Twitter, where it went viral.

The balls were found while cleaning the roof to restore the buildingwhich was damaged by The devastating earthquake that struck central Italy in 2016.

Generations of children were accidentally sent there, playing soccer in the field, in a scene familiar in Italian cities. In fact, even today in the local football language they still talk about it.”Shooting alla viva il parroco“(Fire towards the priest) or”Grace“(Church) when the ball goes up vertically.

Many balls have been found there for decades. It was like finding a file Small football museum from the 20th century: There are models of plastic and leather that have withstood rain, wind, summer sun and winter cold. Even the 1978 World Cup ball in Argentina was found.

“These balls are a testament to the football that was played in Italian arenas, In the fields of the parishes, where children and young people gathered to kick their first balls dreaming of becoming champions: many have already managed to fulfill this longingcommented the sports advisor of the municipality of Ascoli Nico StalloneA former player in Serie C and B, he also participated twice in Serie A with Ascoli.

“It is no coincidence that the balls that were found are all very old.”The official concluded. “I can imagine the grief of those who couldn’t get them back in time, also because there wasn’t much available. It was a beautiful time and who said that going back to playing a little more in the street is not good for the socializing of boys and Italian football.”

For his part, Mayor Ascoli Piceno said, Marco FerravantiIt is best to emphasize that “Some of the balls were fresh.” “There are still children playing in the yard today. They have been for less than a while, but there are”He said.

However, most of the comments seem to reflect nostalgia for a country where children run in the squares without restrictions, and Italy participated in, and sometimes won, the World Cup.

Others, however, took the result with humor. As one user commented: “The Italian strikers have never had a good goal.”

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