Time flies, and it hurts like an open wound that’s been barely grazed. It’s July 9, 2026, and the numerical coincidence is painful. We were children or teenagers back then, and now we’re well into adulthood. Because 20 years have passed since that July 9, 2006, when, metaphorically speaking, our hearts were right there. At Berlin’s Olympiastadion—a place that Italian national soccer team will never forget, and neither will we. We were playing France in a final we hadn’t reached since 1994. After tournaments where we were considered among the strongest, perhaps in 2006 we weren’t the strongest. But we were the most united—and, as a result, the best.
Zidane’s penalty that wasn’t a goal—and then was; Materazzi’s header and his hands raised straight to the sky in tribute to his mother; Toni’s disallowed goal; and the agony of those 90 minutes. Buffon’s miraculous save against Zidane, extra time, and the header. That sensational header, again from that French artist on loan to soccer, who in the last game of his career—the most important one—listened to his gut instead of his head. Materazzi felt that one right on his chest. The penalty kicks and those seemingly endless walks to the spot. Pirlo, Materazzi, De Rossi, and Del Piero. Pirlo hugging Cannavaro, in a religious silence. “Listen, Fabio, if Grosso scores, are we world champions?” Andrea asked the captain. “Yeah, we are.”
That ball went in, to Barthez’s left. It had us screaming with joy like we’d never done before in our lives. With cars and rivers of people pouring into the streets of every city. From Rome to Milan, from New York to London. In the fountains, in the squares. Three colors soaring above the whole world, giving us perhaps the sweetest memory that, as soccer fans, we wouldn’t experience again for a long time. “Let’s hug each other tight and love each other dearly.” Four-time world champions, and everything else was just a bore. Now, twenty years later, we scroll through the endless slideshow of that most beautiful night, while we still wonder why we failed to qualify—for the third time—for the World Cup. Fortunately, no one can take 2006 away from us.
[📸 IPA; Getty Images]
