Meet the Roma fans 16,000km from home

Giamal Ghosheh and Robert Durante, the club’s president and secretary respectively, grew up watching the team in Rome and that’s why the club’s arrival this week in Melbourne means so much to them.

When they took the bold decision to begin a new chapter of their lives on the other side of the world, never for one minute did they imagine the team would one day follow them to Melbourne.

On the day the team touched down in Australia’s cultural capital to prepare for the opening fixture of this summer’s International Champions Cup against Real Madrid on Saturday, asroma.it caught up with the pair for an in-depth chat about what it’s like supporting the Giallorossi from such a distance…

How excited were you when it was officially confirmed that Roma were coming to Melbourne?

Giamal: “Oh my God…”

Robert: “I think I called you straight away.”

Giamal: “We knew there was some talk of Roma coming here as people were calling me from Rome and sending me messages saying the media were reporting the team was going to Australia to play. I think the idea to formalize the supporters’ club – and finally make it official - came from the news that Roma were definitely coming. It was the final push we needed. We had been spreading the word about the club for a long time but it wasn’t until January that we finally became official. We definitely feel part of the club now as we’re like the club’s representatives here in Australia every day of the year.”

How much support do Roma have here in Australia?

Giamal: “I think Roma’s support is getting bigger here in Australia – particularly since the American takeover of the club. Roma are certainly getting more publicity than ever before and a lot of Australians also now follow Roma too.”

Robert: “I think Roma’s support here is actually linked to the popularity of soccer in Australia. As soccer becomes more popular, so do Roma. Soccer is very appealing to young kids and they tend to support the teams that win a lot – so as long as Roma keep on winning, particularly in the Champions League, I see the supporter base growing.

”You have to remember that soccer is still a long way behind the likes of cricket, Aussie rules football and rugby league over here. However, with tournaments like the International Champions Cup being held in Australia and big European teams like Roma, Real Madrid and Manchester City visiting, I think more people will begin taking a bigger interest.”

How big is the Italian community in Melbourne?

Robert: “The Italian community is very strong, particularly around the Yarra Valley.”

Giamal: “There are two different types of Italians in Melbourne. The immigrants who came here two or three generations ago and who sometimes have kids that don’t even speak Italian and then there are the young people who come here with working-holiday visas for a year or two. Our target is to really involve the Italian families who have been here for a long time as we look to really grow the Roma fan base here in Melbourne.”

Tell us about Roma Club Melbourne…

Giamal: “We run La Lupa Romana and already have lots of followers but there’s still room to grow. We always catch up to watch the Roma games together at the restaurant, which shares the same name, La Lupa Romana. We’re all friends so it’s always a great atmosphere. We’ll play Italian cards before the game, have a pizza and drink a few beers.”

Robert: “The earliest games we get are at 11pm at night – which will be the early game in Italy and the latest one will be at about 6.45am in the morning – for Champions League games. During our winter, there’s an eight-hour time difference between here and Rome but during our summer, it’s 10 hours.”

Giamal: “The 6.45am games are prefect. We can get up, watch the game and then go to work. Lots of people complain about the time of games over here but I work during the day and in the evening so there’s no way I could watch all the games if they were shown then.”

How did you end up in Melbourne?

Giamal: “I was born in Rome and lived there all my life. Then I met my wife and she dragged me here. I decided to give it a try and found it really good. I still miss my friends and my family. I’ve been back nearly every year apart from the past couple of years as I now have a young daughter and she’s only two. Obviously I miss the soccer. I miss going to a restaurant on the day of the game in Rome and then going to the stadium. I miss the atmosphere around the city when there is a match.

“We’re slowly trying to recreate some of that match day atmosphere here in Melbourne and we also invite our Australian friends to watch the games with us. They only need to come once and they see the passion we have and they’re amazed. In fact, when I’m watching the game here in Melbourne, it’s one of the very few moments when I forget I’m not actually in Italy. I’m sitting there watching the screen, talking Italian with everyone, having a beer and I forget for a minute that I’m not actually back in Rome.”

Robert: “I lived in Rome for most of my life. I have my parents there, my brother and my friends are all still there. I moved here to find a new opportunity for the kids and whilst I miss Italy, the quality of life is better here for me. I still miss going to the stadium though.”

Giamal: “What I miss most about Rome is seeing the players. I used to go and see the players all the time. My mum used to think I’d gone to school but I’d secretly catch the bus to Trigoria. We’d stand there at the gate with a pen and paper and when they came out, they’d stop for us. Cafu was there, Aldair, Candela… it was fantastic for a young boy.

“I even got to meet Totti three times. The first time I met him was at an ice cream parlor at the start of his career. He was just a young player then and I was about 13. I just said a couple of words to him. The second time, I was about 16 and I remember him turning up with some friends. He was in the back of this little purple car. Then another time, I went to this festival and there was this little theatre with only about 10 people in it. The girl outside told me to go in as I was a Roma fan. So I went in and found Totti sat in there. It was the year we won the league and I had a beautiful chance to talk with him for about 15 or 20 minutes.”

What does Totti mean to you?

Giamal: “For me, Totti means Roma. I am already sad that one day in the near future he will finish playing. He’s not just a normal player – he is us. Watching him is like watching all of us. I am just waiting for the fixture list to come out and I will book my ticket for the last game of the season. I need to be in Rome to watch this game as you never know if it will be his last. I will probably cry."

Will fans from all over Australia travel to Melbourne to watch Roma this weekend?

Robert: “Yes! Definitely. We are friends with Roma Club Sydney – which was the first official Roma club in Australia – and they are coming.”
Giamal: “We are always in touch with them and I went to Sydney to visit them as well. They have a big supporters’ club, also based around an Italian restaurant. Many fans from Sydney flew into Melbourne on Wednesday night and we’re all catching up on Saturday morning before the Real Madrid game. We share ideas all the time as we both have the same goal – to bring Roma colors to Australia and celebrate our passion for the team.”

Robert: “I’ve met Romans in Darwin. I’ve met Romans in Perth. I’ve met Romans in Brisbane – there are Roma supporters everywhere in Australia and many of them will be coming on Saturday. If you go into a Roman restaurant anywhere in Australia, they will have pictures of the past players on the walls. These are people from Rome who despite having been here for 10 or 15 years, they can feel quite isolated in this country – particularly when you consider Perth is a four-hour flight from Melbourne. It feels like another country but still many of them will travel in the game.

Giamal: “Unless there are some Roma-supporting penguins somewhere, I think it’s safe to say that we’re the furthest official supporters’ club from Rome and you can see our passion is as strong as anywhere.”

For the latest ticket information about the International Champions Cup Australia, please visit the official tournament website