Italians are very passionate at two sports, football car racing. Like the rest of the world, they are avid, emotional and highly passionate football fanatics. Proof of this is the creation of Italy's own version of football, the calcio. This game was invented in the 16th century in Italy. The game was originally for the aristocrats only, but in the passing of years, the game has become popularized and is now played by almost anybody regardless of class or social status. The Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, Italy was the home of this game since its creation.



Calcio is an early form of football wherein the players are allowed to use head-butting, elbowing, punching and choking, except for head-kicking and sucker-punching. During those times, even popes were playing the game such as Pope Leo XI, Clement VII and Urban VIII. No wonder, Italians love this game very much. The sport was not played for more than two hundred years until its revival in the 20th century. The sport was revived in 1930 is being played at the Piazza Santa Croce with four teams participating in the games, the Santa Croce (azzurri team), the Santa Maria Novella (rossi team), Santo Spirito (bianchi team) and the San Giovanni (verdi team).

There is now the Fantacalcio, the Italian Fantasy League, wherein every major football club in the country is participating. This shows how much the Italians treat the sport. Today, the terms ?football? and ?calcio? are interchangeably used to mean the same sport. The two terms are used ordinarily and would identify the same kind of sports, although technically they are not the same. But in Italy, it does not matter which word one will use.

Apart from calcio, another sport loved by the Italians is the Formula 1 car racing. The Italians also take pride of this sport as they are among those who started it. Currently, the Italian Grand Prix is one of the oldest car racing event that is still running. While F1 is very popular in the rest of Europe, the Italians do take pride in being one of the earliest creators of the sport. They are also the ones who had a great record in F1 car racing. In fact, the first person to win the Formula One World Championships in 1950 is Italian racer Giuseppe Farina, using his Alfa Romeo sports car. This is one feat the Italians are proud of.

Calcio and F1 are the two sports that are close to the heart of the Italians. Ask any Italian citizen about a sport that he or she likes and definitely football and F1 car race will be their answer. That is how popular the sports are in this country. Among the countries that has a long record of winnings in these sports, Italy ranks among top of those countries. Thus in every league or event involving these two sports, the Italians will go out in crowd and watch the games with passion. They cheer and show support to their players.