If the national football team is in a crisis of play, of results and is sometimes booed in the Italian stadiums, there is another blue team that has instead been considered for a decade as the one to beat. The sport? Virtually the same. There are gates, two teams, a green field and whoever scores the most goals wins. The only difference is that the ball is not pulled with the feet, but ... at the tip of the finger. I'm talking about Subbuteo.
The Subbuteo tradition is still alive, especially in Italy
Subbuteo was born in England in 1947
The tradition of Subbuteo or miniature football, born in England in 1947, had a boom in sales in the seventies and eighties. In Italy it is a tradition that is still alive to the point that the Table Soccer World Cup is almost exclusively ours.
In the last twenty years the Azzurri have occupied the top step of the podium in the team category for sixteen times. The last World Cup, in Paris, on the first weekend of September, was no exception. 8 titles out of 12 brought home, with first place in the Under 12, Under 15, Under 19, Open and Veterans (reserved for Over 45), plus a second place in the women's category.
If there is a goal to score at the tip of your finger, the Azzurri are second to none. Subbuteo's Azzurri have always been the team to beat. It will be that in Italy the passion for Subbuteo has never died out, even when Playstation and Xbox have replaced all entertainment at home.
Even in Subbuteo there is a market but without agents.
The romantics and professionals in Subbuteo
Over the years the movement has split into two factions. On the one hand there are romantics and collectors, linked to the old game with tilting bases, less stable. And maybe they built their own stadium, fans, stands, hand-painting the uniforms of the players.
On the other hand, there are those who prefer a more professional vision. The basics of the miniatures are more technological, made especially for tournaments, the rules are different, you also train several days a week to refine the touch.
Each player has his own characteristics. There are those who are more inclined to attack, who may be better at controlling the ball. Forms? Forget the 4-4-2 or the 3-4-3.
If you are playing defensively, you can also deploy ten players horizontally on the firing line, next to each other, a sort of 10-0-0.
