World Cup USA 1994 : He Says Italia, She Says Brasil : In Their Marriage, Soccer Rivalry Rages
He’s Italian, she’s Brazilian, and they are both rabidly patriotic soccerfans.
If that’s not enough to drive a marriage counselor to tears--what with those two countries facing each other in the emotional World Cup final Sunday--there’s more.
Ronaldo and Mercedes Pellegrini married in 1970, a few months before their beloved teams last met for the most coveted sports trophy on Earth.
Brazil delivered an ugly 4-1 beating to Italy, and for the next 12 years, Mercedes had bragging rights. Then in 1982, Brazil was eliminated in early rounds and Italy went on to take the Cup. Ronaldo uncorked some Mediterranean-sized gloating.
Now, Mercedes figures it’s almost her turn again.
“Revenge,” she said Friday, rolling the word out with a Portuguese accent, savoring its sound.
The man of the house is a bit nervous.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to eat humble pie,” Ronaldo admitted. “I don’t think the (Italian) coach brought up enough forwards.”
In their house on a hill in Calabasas, the Pellegrinis’ international love match plays itself out with a passion that only a true soccer fan could appreciate.
The colors of Italy and the colors of Brazil hang from the mantle, held in place by a host of soccer trophies won by two of the three Pellegrini girls. The children’s television has also been put to use, installed at the family’s Italian restaurant, Vittorio in Pacific Palisades, so they can follow the games--and insult each other’s teams--while they work.
And in the interest of familial harmony, the menu for Sunday’s game-time shindig at home has been planned with delicate diplomacy: Italian sausage and pizza for dinner, Brazilian briggadero and beijinho for dessert.
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For both parties in the Pellegrini soccer feud, love of the game goes back decades, and team loyalties preceded marital vows.
Ronaldo, born in Chicago to Italian immigrants, acquired his voracious appetite for soccer during travels for the import-export business he still runs.
Mercedes is a native of Sao Paulo, and although girls in Brazil seldom play the game, she said, she followed the local team as closely as any boy.
“In Brazil you’re born with soccer. Every empty field, it’s a soccer field,” she said.
The two have followed the World Cup since they were married, but with full television coverage available for the first time here this year, dozens of friends--Brazilian and Italian--have occupied the house for nearly a month, and the rooting has been especially heated.
“My wife is Brazilian through and through--the hugging, the screaming,” Ronaldo said, evidently under the impression that Italian soccer fans are known for their emotional restraint and cool detachment.
Ronaldo has been forced on the defensive this year. Not only are the Brazilians playing better soccer than the Italians, he said mournfully, but he is outnumbered by Brazilian fans, 6 to 1, in his own home. In addition to his wife, their three daughters (even Sabrina, 15, who was wearing an “Italia” shirt Friday), one granddaughter and the housekeeper are all rooting for the green and yellow.
Said 17-year-old daughter Vanessa: “I mean, Dad, I love you and everything, but it’s Brazil.”
But he isn’t surrendering early. “Italians are lucky,” he said, and could still pull off a win come Sunday.
Mercedes agreed that Italians are lucky, just not lucky enough in her opinion to beat her Brazilians.
Although bets as high as $100 have changed hands from one Pellegrini to another on previous games, nothing is wagered on the Sunday finale--nothing except bragging rights at least until the next World Cup, in their 28th year of marriage.
“We have so little in common,” Mercedes said.
“Opposites attract,” Ronaldo replied.
