MILAN – During World War I, women from the northern valleys of Bergamo would make footwear from what little rags they had as a parting gift to their loved ones on the way to the front. That overgarment would protect the soldiers from the ferocious cold of the winter months and warm their hearts with memories of home.
Legend has it that Severo Cominelli, born in the province of Bergamo in 1915, kicked his first football while wearing the same cloth shoes. This is how the future midfielder began to hone his talent, which led him to represent first Atalanta and then Inter, joining the Nerazzurri at 26 years old in 1941. Destiny tied the prime years of his career to another worldwide conflict, during which football was the only way for the player to let off steam. A player, incidentally, who wrote himself into legend at Atalanta with 60 goals for the club, a record which lasted until 2007. Quite the achievement for an ordinary lad from the mountains.
However, Cominelli was not the first player to have played for both Atalanta and Inter; in the early 1930s the two clubs shared common ground in the name of Carlo Ceresoli as well. The 1938 World Cup-winning goalkeeper moved to Milan in 1932 after a successful stint at his hometown club in Bergamo. In fact, Ceresoli received his footballing education at Ardens Bergamo, Atalanta's former feeder club, of which nothing remains today but a public park and hangout for university students.
These two were the first of a connection that over the years would bring many more players across the Adda River, the ancient and picturesque border between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan. Perhaps Angelo Domenghini travelled along this very route on his way from Atalanta to Inter in 1964. Born in Lallio in the province of Bergamo, Domenghini's career started off at the local oratory and led him to feature in Inter's historic 1965 European Cup triumph, as well as winning Euro 1968 for Italy.
That national team included another player born in Bergamo, a certain Giacinto Facchetti. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say Treviglio, the halfway point between Bergamo and Milan and where the Facchetti legend began. Every morning you can see Bergamo from Giacinto's birthplace and on clearer days even the Citta Alta is visible, with the red-and-yellow flag above Porta San Giacomo. Yellow representing the sun, divinity and a wealth that transcends material values and day-to-day living; red like fire and blood. These are the symbols of a place that unites passion and tradition, sacrifice and desire.
The true colours of Bergamo are not black and blue; football has lent the city this strip and it is football which has united the destinies of Bergamo and Milan for centuries.
Bruno Bottaro
