1. Hope for the Future
Portugal - Póvoa de
Lanhoso
Second meeting
13 -17 May 2013
Learning Europe:
Culture & Civilization

2. Sports in Italy have a long tradition. In numerous sports, both
individual and team, Italy has good representation and achieved many
successes. Football is the most popular sport in Italy. Basketball,
Volleyball, and Cycling are the next most popular sports, with Italy
having a rich tradition in these fields. Italy won the 2006 FIFA World
Cup, and it is currently the second most successful football team in
World Cup history, after Brazil, having won four FIFA World Cup
championships. Italy also has strong traditions in rugby union, tennis,
athletics, fencing, and other sports.

3.  Football is the most popular
sport in Italy. The Italian national
football team has won the FIFA
World Cup four times (1934,
1938, 1982, and 2006), second
only to Brazil (with 5). Italy's
club teams have won 27 major
European trophies, making
them the most successful nation
in European football. The Italian
word for football is calcio, and
this is the word used to refer to
the sport in Italy, as opposed to
football in England or soccer in
the United States and Canada.

4.  Italy is one of the main basketball nations
in Europe, along with Spain, Serbia,
Greece, Slovenia, Lithuania, Croatia,
Russia, Turkey and France. It has a long and
rich tradition in this sport. The Italian
national basketball team's best results
were gold at Eurobasket 1983 and
EuroBasket 1999, as well as silver at the
Olympics in 2004. Until the 200s, the Italian
League was considered the strongest
domestic league outside of North America.
It has recently been overtaken by the
Spanish ACB, but is still one of the top
leagues in Europe, along with the Russian
PBL the Greek A1 Ethniki, the Adriatic
League, and the Baltic League. Famous
club teams include Olimpia Milano,
Pallacanestro Varese , Pallacanestro Cantù,
Virtus Bologna, Fortitudo Bologna,
Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro, Benetton Treviso,
Montepaschi Siena, Basket Napoli, Virtus
Roma, Pallacanestro Trieste, and
Juvecaserta Basket.

5.  Volleyball (pallavolo) is
played by a lot of
amateur players, and
professional players
compete in the Italian
Volleyball League. The
male and female
national teams are often
in the top 4 ranking of
teams in the world,
regarded as the best
volleyball league in the
world.

6.  Gymnastics is a very
popular sport in Italy.
The Italian team won
the silver medal at the
2004 Summer Olympic
Games and reached
the 4th place at the
2008 Olympic Games.

7. Valentino Rossi is a
professional motorcycle
racer and
multiple MotoGP World
Champion. He is one of
the most successful
motorcycle racers of all
time, with nine Grand
PrixWorld
Championships to his
name – seven of which
are in the premier class.
He races with the
number 46.

9. Valentina Vezzali,
44 medals between
Olympics Games,
World and European
Championships.

10. Federica Pellegrini is a swimmer. She
holds the women's 200 m freestyle (long
course and short course) and 400 m (long
course) freestyle world record, but she
finished fifth in both events at the London
2012 Olympics.
Tania Cagnotto is a diver. She is the
first Italian female diver to win a medal
in a World Championship.

11. Alberto Tomba is a
formerWorld Cup alpine
ski racer from Italy. He
was the dominant
technical skier
(slalom and giant
slalom) in the late 1980s
and 1990s. Tomba won
three Olympic gold
medals, twoWorld
Championships, and
nineWorld Cup season
titles; four in slalom,
four in giant slalom, and
one overall title. He was
popularly called ”Tomba
the Bomb”.

12. The first leagues were started
by English immigrants in the
1890 in Italy. The first club
was Genoa Cricket and
Athletic Club (now Genoa
Cricket & Football Club).
Initially there were separate
leagues for Italians and
foreigners, they merged
around 1897. In March 1898,
the Italian Football
Federation (Federazione
Italiana del Football) began .

13.  JUVENTUS
 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2 TIMES
 EUROPEAN LEAGUE 8 TIMES
 ITALIAN LEAGUE 28 TIMES
 MILAN
 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 7 TIMES
 EUROPEAN LEAGUE 7 TIMES
 ITALIAN LEAGUES 18TIMES
 INTERNAZIONALE
 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 3TIMES
 EUROPEAN LEAGUE 6TIMES
 ITALIAN LEAGUE 18TIMES