The Euro 2020 soccer championship finally got underway on Friday (June 11) after a year-long delay with a colourful fireworks show and choreography featuring balloons representing the 24 teams in Rome’s sparsely populated Stadio Olimpico.
Only some 16,000 fans were admitted for the opening match between Italy and Turkey, around 25 per cent of capacity, after authorities kept a firm cap on attendance at the tournament due to Covid-19 concerns.
Trying to pump up excitement, which has been largely missing in Rome in the run up to the kick-off, Italian soccer greats and 2006 World Cup winners Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta welcomed fans at the opening ceremony.
Tenor Andrea Bocelli sang Nessun Dorma, U2 band stars Bono and The Edge performed with DJ Martin Garrix via a video…
