Pujato (Argentina), July 16, 2026 – At 11 PM Italian time yesterday, 6 PM in Argentina, the celebration started in Pujato, the town on the outskirts of Rosario where Lionel Scaloni, a coach of Marchigian origin who has now entered the legend of South American football thanks to winning two Copa America titles, the 2022 World Cup, and the final, yet to be played, in 2026, was born.
Read more Bologna, De Silvestri: «Hit by Tedesco. Orsolini’s renewal? It’s a personal choice»
The coach’s cradle has become the destination of another pilgrimage
The victory in the semifinal against England, as expected and as already
happened in Mexico ’86, has gone beyond the boundaries of sport and recalled the Falklands War (Malvinas for the Argentinians, which the British retook by force in 1982), so much so that at the end of the match the Albiceleste players made a lap of the field with a flag, taken from the stands, claiming Argentine sovereignty over the archipelago. Like Carlos Bilardo 40 years ago (in the 2-1 ‘Hand of God’ match), Scaloni has also been elevated to leader and ‘avenger’ of the Argentine people, so much so that Pujato has become the destination of yet another pilgrimage, after those in 2022, of citizen-fans coming from everywhere: the coach’s house, a small villa among many with direct street frontage, has turned into a domestic shrine, with the coach’s elderly parents looking out to ‘bless’ the festive caravan.
Read more Hot oil catches fire, grandmother is burned while saving grandson from the flames
Eulalia and Angel, Scaloni’s parents, bless the festive caravan
Mother Eulalia Marzetti, 74 years old, grandparents from Montegranaro (province of Fermo) and Rotella (province of Ascoli Piceno) and father Angel Scaloni, 80 years old, with grandparents from Magliano di Tenna, Montegiorgio, Monte San Pietrangeli (all in the province of Fermo) and Tolentino (province of Macerata) greeted the procession emotionally until late at night. The ‘shrine’ of Pujato will remain in silent prayer until the supreme rite on Sunday evening, after which anything could happen, including apparitions.
Read more Bob Dylan returns to Bologna after 11 years: the concert at Unipol Arena on November 7
