Waiting for glory: Countdown to Parma in 2001

This is a story that began at 5 pm on 10 June 2001, after the referee blew full time on the Serie A Week 33 match between Napoli and Roma at the Stadio San Paolo.

That 2-2 draw – with goals by Nicola Amoruso, Gabriel Batistuta, Francesco Totti and Fabio Pecchia – meant Roma remained top of the league but Juventus were now hot on their heels and anything less than a win against Parma in the final game of the season could see the Giallorossi cruelly denied the title.

The Roma players knew it and they were annoyed because they'd been winning against Napoli until 10 minutes from time.

Fabio Capello and Vincenzo Montella knew it as they argued pitchside with the TV cameras taking it all in – and the inevitable media rumpus that followed.

The Roma fans knew it and, being Roma fans and remembering what had happened on other occasions, they were more inclined to see the glass half-empty than half-full.

“It's another Roma-Lecce,” shouted a middle-aged man in Piazza San Giovanni, where a crowd of fans had gathered to watch the game on the giant screen – referring to Roma's 1986 defeat when the Scudetto slipped away just two games before the end of the season.

Another group of fans had travelled to Naples to throw their support behind the team, but sadly it turned out to be a day in which the problems of public order – both inside and outside the ground – reached unprecedented levels. Scenes akin to guerrilla warfare ensued in various parts of the city and were broadcast into people's homes via the evening news.

It was hardly the ideal setting for a Scudetto decider against Renzo Ulivieri's Parma the following weekend.

Yet this was a gilt-edged opportunity to invert the trend and it had to be grasped. There could be no fretting over water under the bridge. Three points were all that was needed and they had to be taken.

“This is the sort of game we have to shed blood for – that's what we do in Brazil,” Emerson said in a rallying cry to the team.

Capello meanwhile tried to play down the Montella situation. “I'll pick the team for Parma without considering any personal issues,” the coach promised, alluding to the three-pronged attack that he eventually went with: Montella alongside Totti and Batistuta. As it happened, all three ended up on the score sheet.

The Roman radio stations immediately went into overdrive in a bid to fill the stadium and ensure it would be a spectacle to behold. “Try to bring two flags so we can create a visual effect and a show of support that's never been seen before.”

Another request made on air was for all fans to come to the stadium in their Roma jerseys and for those who didn't have one to wear a red T-shirt, “to create a sea of colour and strike fear into the opposition. Like the Netherlands' orange wall.”

Of course there were those who had been caught up in the events in Naples and wanted to give their own version of the story, with radio presenters only too happy to lend an ear and a microphone. All sorts of anecdotes were shared, many of which contradictory.

Tension was sky high.

Parma meanwhile made it clear they weren't coming down to the capital for a sightseeing tour, Matias Almeyda declaring: “We'll go there to play our part. We want to win even though we don't need the points for our own targets anymore.” Indeed, Parma had already booked their place in the Champions League third qualifying round.

Once all the tickets were sold the club decided to offer tickets for the away fans' section, since only a small number of visiting supporters were expected and they could be moved to the Monte Mario stand.

When the big day arrived people started turning up at the Olimpico in the early hours of the morning, from 9 or 10 am. Some even boasted: “I've been here since 7 o'clock this morning.”

The atmosphere in the stands was electric and every seat in the house was taken.

A man in the Distinti Nord section brought a newborn baby with him, despite the scorching heat that made the Olimpico feel more like the Sahara. The baby appeared on the front page of Il Corriere dello Sport the next day, 18 June.

The day Rome's most popular sports daily celebrated the Giallorossi as Italian champions for the third time in history.

That baby – and Roma's last Scudetto – is now 15 years old.