Italian Man Recognized For Being Soccer Club's Only Fan

Arrigo Brovedani is a wine merchant and a fan of Udinese, an Italian Serie A soccer club. A few days ago, he was in Genoa on business, about four hours from Friuli, where Udinese is based. It happened to be the same day Udinese was playing Sampdoria, the club based in Genoa. So Brovedani decided to go. He turned out to be the only supporter sitting on the Udinese side of the stadium. That's him up there, in the photo above. And now he's famous for it, with media outlets all over Europe seeking him out for interviews. It's kind of like being a Jacksonville Jaguars fan, except nobody gives a shit about that one guy in a visiting stadium who happens to be a Jacksonville Jaguars fan.

If I am in a city where Udinese happen to be playing, clients tend to send me free tickets, as they know my passion for the team. This time it wasn't possible and I had to sort it out myself.

"It wasn't easy, as I had to buy a ‘Fan Passport' to buy a ticket for an away game and it takes 18 days to go through, so I wrote to Sampdoria in order to make sure it would be alright and they were very helpful.

"I made the journey to Genoa, arrived at the stadium and only then did I realise I was the only Udinese fan there! At that point the stewards asked if I wanted to sit in the main stand, but I insisted on going into the away end, seeing as I had paid for that ticket.

Brovedani said he was initially booed by the home side's fans, but that he was eventually cheered and invited for "coffee and a meal," and given a T-shirt. He also got to see Udinese win. Which, come to think of it, makes him nothing at all like a Jacksonville Jaguars fan.

[ Business Insider/ BBC/ Who Ate All The Pies]