For a few hours at least, Cup to be savored in North End
Every four years, it captivates the world despite standing a little taller than a large box of cereal and weighing about 11 pounds. In July, Italy's national soccer team captain, Fabio Cannavaro, raised the World Cup trophy above his head in Germany after a redemptive victory. And tomorrow it's coming to Boston's North End.
The famous 18-carat solid gold prize will wend its way (with a full police escort) through four restaurants and bars on Hanover Street from 3 to 9 p.m. tomorrow as part of a promotional tour sponsored by beer giant Budweiser. Organizer Nick Gregory , a North End native himself, said folks can see the Cup for free but will have to pay to have their picture taken with it. Some of that money, he said, will be donated back to the community.
On Thursday, the Cup will appear at restaurants in Chelsea, Framingham, and Revere, ending with a midnight to 1 a.m. Friday viewing at El Carriel in Chelsea. From there, it heads to New York, Washington, D.C., Miami, and Chicago.
The North End, where banners and posters are up announcing the trophy's visit, erupted in a full-blown celebration after the Italian team, nicknamed the Azzurri, defeated France in the World Cup final. The triumph was particularly gratifying after the match-fixing scandal that rocked Serie A, the top Italian soccer league, this year.
``After all the scandal, when the whole world really didn't have any faith in Italian football, it was a sigh of relief," said Maurizio Pasquale , who was working the turntables in front of Cafe Graffiti when Italy won. ``It's sort of lifting this big boulder off of our shoulder."
MAC DANIEL 