Medieval football in Florence

Against the background of rather bad results of the Italian team at the World Cup in South Africa in Florence temperamental Italians are ready to teach "scuadra Azzurre" how to play. On 24 June 2010 on the square of Santa Croce in Florence will be held the "feast of testosterone" - Calcio Storico, which is also called Calcio Fiorentino, which can be translated as "strike of Florence". Calcio Storico is an event that is celebrated in the capital of Tuscany since 15th century and is a sort of local landmark.

Calcio Storico is a synthesis of rugby and football. On the square before the church of Santa Croce powerful Florentines are trying to show their skills in this ancient sport, which, according to the tradition, they inherited from ancient Romans. It is believed that this game has enjoyed special esteem among the Roman nobility. In ancient Rome it was known as "garpastum". It should be noted that Calcio Storico was recently revived in the 20 century after 200 years of oblivion. Nevertheless, today the main rules are approximately the same as 500 years.

The goal of the game is to deliver the ball to the certain place. However, for most players following the rules is not a priority, despite the fact that these rules are an essential component of the game. Modern interpretation of the game, which allows such tricks as "elbowing" or "strangulation" is more like wrestling than soccer.

In Calcio Storico of the 20th century are participating teams from four districts of Florence: San Giovanni, Santa Maria Novella, Santa Spirita and Santa Croce. Each team has its own color: for San Giovanni is green, for the Santa Maria Novella - red, for Santa Spirita - white and Santa Croce - blue. Each team consist of 27 players. Each player must wear special pants, which design is the same as in the heyday of Calcio Storico.

The winning team can expect not only national love, but also quite tangible prizes. By tradition, the grand prize for winning the competition is a huge number of steaks, which by their weight are same to the weight of white calf, which in the Middle Ages was slaughtered on the occasion of a victory.

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