In the 1989-1990 season, legend Diego Maradona was the "locomotive" leading Napoli to the national championship. That is an unforgettable milestone in the history of Naples football, marking the final glorious days associated with the Maradona era in Italy.
33 years later, the name of the "golden boy" became immortal when it was named for Napoli's stadium, witnessing the post-production generation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen, ... once again taking their beloved team to the top of Scudetto.
A long journey has passed, not only 33 rounds of Serie A 2022-2023 but also the ups and downs in football history. Maybe the Italian national championship has not maintained the attraction of the 90s, but Scudetto still has its own value.
That is the desire of many forces that have been forgotten, typically Napoli. They had a shining Maradona sun, shining brightly throughout the 1986-1991 period with 2 championships and 2 runner-up positions in the tournament.
When Maradona left Italy, Napoli's glory also died. And it took more than 30 years for Naples football fans to experience such joy. More than 500 miles from Diego Armando Maradona's home ground to Udinese's Dacia Arena are not far away as the championship is in the hands of Luciano Spalletti and his team.
Thousands of fans along with the team cheered and danced until they forgot about heaven and earth as if they wanted to lift the burden of the past few months.
In a psychological slump after being eliminated by AC Milan in the Champions League, Napoli's domestic position was also more shaky in the early stages of the season when they only won 4 out of 9 matches since March 2023.
For example, right before the championship, Napoli also let Udinese take the lead, but Victor Osimhen knew how to overcome the pressure to launch the decisive punch into the overall situation.
At that moment, the retired striker ran to the corner of the stands where Napoli fans cheered and hit the fence so hard that his iconic mask almost broke.
A large flag with Maradona's image flew on top of the fans' heads. Osimhen's teammates also ran to celebrate with a bib with the Italian words: "I will be with you, and you will never give up".
That is the lyrics that Napoli fans love, and is also a "commander" in the fighting spirit of the players.
Who is behind Napoli's successes, when they took the throne after saying goodbye to a series of key players such as Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, kalidou Koulibaly and Fabian Ruiz? Some will answer that is Sports Director Cristiano Giuntoli - the figure who decided to recruit Kvaratskhelia from Rubin Kazan after political instability, along with other cheap but quality contracts such as center back Kim Min-jae, striker Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori.
It is also possible to agree with the opinion of former player Fabio Cannavaro: scoring the first goal for Luciano Spalletti, the oldest coach to ever win Serie A (at the age of 64).
All of them deserve to be mentioned, even becoming immortal failures in Napoli's history. But above all, Scudetto is the effort of a team, the tireless dedication of the entire team.
There are Kvaratskhelia, Osimhen stand out in the spotlight, there are also lobotka, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa coordinating in the dark, or the tireless diligence of captain and right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzoat.
Coach Spalletti knows how to bring everyone together with a spirit of not giving up. As this fighter himself admitted, the most impressive moment of the season for him was when the entire Napoli squad tried to retreat quickly to prevent a Sassuolo counter-attack, not a goal or a performance.
"I have never seen anything like this in 25 years of coaching," Spalletti said. And Napoli's 33-year wait is over.
