Here's the article by Mark Gilbert @ THE SUN (Yes a British news outlet)
The Azzurri chief and his entire staff set out on a 13-mile trek from the team hotel to a Camaldolese monastery yesterday.
Upon arriving in Poland on June 5, Prandelli and Italian delegation chief Demetrio Albertini promised the monks they would visit them by foot if Italy advanced from the group stage of Euro 2012.
After they beat Republic of Ireland 2-0 in Poznan, the squad flew back to their base in Wieliczka, outside Krakow.
And following an early-morning dinner, players began joking with the staff that they needed to keep up their part of the deal.
So, as the 23-man squad went to bed, the 14-member coaching and technical staff set off on the 3½-hour journey.
The younger members of the staff gained a half-hour lead on the older ones, and applauded ironically when the second group reached the monastery.
They returned by car to the hotel at 7.15am.
Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon — whose side face England in the quarter-finals on Sunday — said: “If, by chance, we win the Euros, I’ll also do the 21-kilometer return trip."
Italy’s coaches are often religious or revert to superstition. Former manager and current Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni used to pour holy water on the pitch before matches.
And Marcello Lippi asked his friends back in his hometown of Viareggio to get his boat ready before each match at the 2006 World Cup, so he could make a quick getaway if Italy were eliminated.
But he never had to, though, as Italy won their fourth crown at the tournament in Germany.
However, Lippi was seen on his boat soon after the Italians were eliminated in the group stage of the competition in South Africa four years later.
The Camaldolese monks and nuns are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities. Their name is derived from the holy site of Camaldoli in central Italy, near Arezzo.
Before the tournament began, Italy’s entire squad visited the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps that Nazi Germany operated during World War II.
Paolo will have a preview to the Azzurri's Quarterfinal match against the English. Living in Canada (a British Colony) I for one am excited for this match. I often go to Toronto FC matches - if you don't know who Toronto FC is; they are currently the worst team in the WORLD! - to hear the ignorant comments from the British fans correlating Toronto's abysmal play to the Azzurri - Here's a taste.
- "Ack. Don't dive like the Italians"
- "Look at him rolling around like an Italian"
- "Your flopping like an Italian"
- "This game is worse than watching the dreadful Italian league"
- "There's nothing worse than those bloody Italians"
- And the pièce de résistance during a Canada v Honduras World Cup Qualifier "These South American National Anthems are so bloody long; they're as awful as the Italian one"
That's just a taste... I hope our boys do us proud on Sunday!
FORZA ITALIA - FORZA AZZURRI
