Great Morning at Kindergarten

My personal experience, originally posted here at juventus.theoffside.com after the 2010/11 season (mercifully) ended.

Last night, I slept better because finally the season was over. However, I overslept and woke up late. I decided not to go to work and I took my kid to school. Afterwards, just before I left his school, I overheard his kindergarten teacher (I’d say she’s in her thirties) dividing her students into four teams to play mini-soccer in the school yard. Bear in mind that in this EPL-infested country, most women don’t watch soccer and they usually know teams based on the word of mouth and the many fake jerseys everywhere.

Teacher: Who wants to play for… Chelsea!??
Kids: Me… Me… Me…!!

I thought, all right, the blues ARE popular. Since Abramovich took over, Chelsea went from nobody-knows-and-talks-about team to one of the most well-known and supported one in this country (Talk about bandwagoners…). Soulless team, but very popular. I found it interesting, so I lingered a bit.

For the second team, she said,
Teacher: Who wants to join… Barcelona!??
Kids: Me… Me… Me…!!

One of the kids, with adoration in his eyes, even mentioned that Barca would slay MU in the upcoming CL final. I thought, well, I’m sure he’d never seen Busquets played (read: rolled on the ground with palms on face) but they ARE currently the best team in the world. I became more interested and predicted she’d mention an EPL team.

For the third team, she said,
Teacher: Who wants to play for… Man United!??
Kids: Me… Me… Me…!!

Well, I thought, no surprise there. This country IS infested with EPL supporters and Man United and Chelsea are the two most supported EPL teams here.

Finally, for the last team, I thought, ah well, she’d probably mention another EPL team. But then, she gave me the surprise that made my day:

Teacher: Who wants to join… JUVENTUS!??
Kids: Me… Me… Me…!!
Me: WHAAAATTT!!???

In this country, where people only seem to know EPL teams, Barcelona, and Cristiano Ronaldo (YES, Crynaldo is more famous than Real Madrid, and Leo Messi. I presume it was from his Man United days in EPL), I find it hard to believe that besides the not so many serie A fans here, Juventus are a top-of-mind team. But there you have it.