He found only superlatives for the legend of Slovak football, Marek Hamšík, and called him one of the absolute greatest personalities of the Naples SSC. During the winter Tipsport Malta Cup tournament, we came across a big fan of “partenopeia”, who also appreciated Stanislav Lobotka and the work of coach Francesco Calzona.
These days, a traditional winter tournament is being held on the popular holiday sunny island Tipsport Malta Cup 2024to which the footballers of the Slovak club also arrived Spartak Trnava. Over the next few days, they will gradually compete against the Czech Republic Sigma OlomoucAustrian Austria Vienna and another representative of the Czech Fortuna League, Hradcom Králové.
On this Mediterranean island, the Italian club has a very strong presence among the fans SSC Neapol and we were convinced of this already in the past, when, for example, the Slovak national team arrived in Malta in March 2017 and around 50 delighted fans were waiting for the then SSC captain Marek Hamšík.
Francesco Calzona and Marek Hamšík, source: TASR
Hamšík as an immortal legend and savior of Calzona
Later, one of the Maltese fans of Napoli even revealed that he named his son Marek. We had the opportunity to see for ourselves that Hamšík is not forgotten in Malta even after his career ends. In a local pizzeria, where a scarf with an inscription towered majestically on the highest place „Forza Napoli – Neapolitan Heart“it was quite evident which club is the number one in this place.
“He is one of the absolute biggest legends of our club,” the local “pizzeria” told us proudly to the address of Marek Hamšík. “In Naples, we will cherish and deeply value him forever. Not only because he took everything away and gave it to Naples, but also because of his character and humble nature. After all, which captain of such a big club would just go among people to buy in a store? And on a little Mini Cooper?’ laughed.
Marek Hamšík painted on a wall in Naples, source: Imago
“Of course, Diego Maradona is only one and no one will be greater than him, he won two titles in a row with Napoli and in the times when only clubs from the north of Italy dominated, so for SSC fans he will be immortal forever, but we can also consider Marek as someone like that “ continued the cook, who was originally from Italy and had been living in Malta for several years. He immediately appreciated when we chose a pizza called Napoli.
“Even now we have one Slovak in the team, Stan Lobotka. He is an excellent midfielder and had a fantastic season last year, but Marek Hamšík is on a completely different level,” laughed the Italian, but his smile faded in a second when we reminded him of the current season and the form of Napoli.
After being asked what he says about the work of the former assistant coach of Napoli Francesca Calzono at the Slovak national team, he simply stated eloquently: “I wish he’d come to wake us too.”
Tattoo of a Napoli fan on the forearm, source: ŠPORT.sk
A clear example of the strong rivalry with Juventus
Even on the island, which is 850 km from Naples and approximately 1700 km from Turin, the rivalry between SSC and Juventus was felt very strongly.
The chef of the pizzeria proudly showed us a garbage bag in the colors of Juventus with the inscription “garbage bag Juventino”. His colleague then rolled up his sleeve and showed his forearm with the tattooed inscription “Juve Merda”, that is, loosely translated, “Damn Juventus”. Well, southerners are not easily denied, and fans of the “old lady” probably wouldn’t like it too much in this establishment.
2024-01-10 06:20:00
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