Darderi trains at the US Open in a Napoli shirt

The Italian-Argentine, ranked 22 in the world and an outspoken Napoli supporter, shared pictures from the US Open, where he has reached the second round.

by Gennaro SanninoFriday 4 September, 21:13 CET· 22 hours ago

San Paolo Curva — Foto: C.R. · CC BY-SA 3.0

Luciano Darderi trained in New York wearing a Napoli shirt. The pictures, posted on his Instagram account @luciano_darderi, show him on the US Open practice courts in Napoli's blue. The Italian-Argentine, a declared Napoli fan, made no secret of it in front of his followers.

Darderi is currently world number 22 and is playing at the US Open, where he has reached the second round. The run keeps him busy in the United States just as Napoli, on the other side of the ocean, prepare for their trip to San Siro.

It is not obvious that a declared show of support should come from a tennis court in New York rather than the stands at the Maradona, and that is exactly why such a simple gesture matters: training in that shirt, in front of the cameras of a Grand Slam event, says that belonging to Napoli is not measured only inside the stadium.

The timing is not lost on anyone following Napoli closely. The club sit tenth in Serie A with three points after two matchdays, having lost 1-2 at home to Como and won 0-2 away at Genoa. On Saturday 5 September at 18:00 CET (17:00 UK, 12:00 ET), Allegri's side travel to San Siro to face Chivu's Inter, level on 6 points with the other early pace-setters. A tough test at the start of a season the fanbase is not living through with much calm.

From New York, meanwhile, the lasting image is of a fan who has kept quiet — but not completely quiet: a shirt worn far from Naples, while back home the fanbase waits to see how the team responds at San Siro.