In the year that Brazil celebrates the 150th anniversary of Italian immigration, a club founded by Italian descendants in Nova Veneza became a sensation when it reached the elite of Santa Catarina football, while at the same time seeking to preserve its “Italianness” to reach higher heights.
Founded in 1970, Caravaggio Futebol Clube, also known as Azulão da Montanha, only became professional in 2021 and is now experiencing the best phase in its history, after having won the Série B of the Campeonato Catarinense and achieved unprecedented access to the state's first division.
The team wears the colors of the Italian national team on its uniform and is cheered on by a passionate crowd, almost entirely concentrated in a city where more than 90% of the population of around 15 inhabitants has Italian ancestry.
The president of Caravaggio, Moses Spirere, said, in an interview with ANSA, that the fact that the club is based in a small municipality makes it possible to maintain its roots without suffering cultural interference from the metropolises, as happened with traditional clubs Palmeiras e Cruzeiro, also born in the Italian community.
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“As we are from a very small city that has a cultural issue of Italian colonization around it, we are able to preserve these roots, whether in the way we manage or run the club,” he said.
The most visible example of the “Italianness” preserved by Caravaggio is in his own uniform. In addition to the tricolor flag, the shirt displays the logo of the 150 years of immigration, which recalls the hundreds of thousands of Italians who left Europe to venture to Brazil, especially those who participated in the founding of Nova Veneza.
“It is a great joy to be able to pay tribute to the 150 years of immigration, which is part of our history. The population of new venice "It preserves the culture, the music, the gastronomy, and the football, which is a very old custom of the Italian people. And it's no different here in our region," he commented.
Through Caravaggio, Nova Veneza is close to reestablishing connections with Belluno, the place of origin of many of the immigrants who gave rise to the municipality of Santa Catarina.
Azulão's board went to Italy to begin negotiations for a cooperation agreement with the club Belluno Dolomites, from the fourth division of local football, and talks could be concluded this year. (Handle)
