Quelli che... Il Calcio is a sports-themed entertainment television program initially broadcast on Rai 3 from 26 September 1993 to 17 May 1998 and subsequently on Rai 2 from 13 September 1998 to 2 December 2021 on Sunday afternoon, during the period of activity of the Italian football championship. It followed and comments on the Serie A matches live.
The program was conducted from 1993 to 2001 by Fabio Fazio together with Marino Bartoletti, from 2001 to 2011 by Simona Ventura, from 2011 to 2013 by Victoria Cabello, from 2013 to 2017 by Nicola Savino and from 2017 to 2021 by the comic duo Luca and Paolo together with Mia Ceran. It aired from TV studio 3 of the Rai production center in Milan. In conjunction with the championship round held on Epiphany Day, the program also aired on January 6, while on Easter week, it was aired on Holy Saturday.
History
1993-2001: presentation by Fabio Fazio
The broadcast debuted on Rai 3 on 26 September 1993 conducted by Fabio Fazio and Marino Bartoletti with the participation of sports journalists such as Carlo Sassi. Its name derives from the title of the song (which initially was also the theme song for the program) Quelli che ..., composed and sung by Enzo Jannacci, with the addition of the word "football," a sport that was the focus of discussion with satire and irony. The song by Jannacci for the broadcast, however, had a completely different text (it spoke of football) compared to the original version.
From his debut to the present day, he has also collaborated with the radio broadcast Tutto il calcio minuto per minuto ("All Football Minute by Minute") on Rai Radio 1; until 1997, in fact, the faces of the radio commentators appeared on a large video wall behind the conductor. In 1996, the video wall with the radio commentators was moved and placed behind the audience, undergoing numerous changes over the years.
The format was born, according to the host himself, as a television translation of the Rai Radio 1 radio program, and consisted of transmitting the results of Serie A and Serie B matches (until 2005, when they were moved to Saturday; from 2010, they were replaced by Serie C), which appear in succession at the bottom of the screen. The match commented live by the VIP reporters or the reporter at the event appeared on the upper part. When a Serie A team scored a goal, it was communicated live (until 2005 by the radio broadcast Tutto il calcio minuto per minuto, then by journalists in the studio); in the background, the screams of fans and epic music is broadcast, followed (when possible) by the hymn of the team that scored; from 1997, the new result of the match appeared in the upper part of the screen and on both edges of the screen, a flag with the colors of the team that scored, radio commentators commenting on the action on the spot (during the period of connection with Tutto il calcio minuto per minuto) and the minutes and names of the players who have scored their respective goals; finally, in the center of the screen, the cheers of the players (when possible) and the fans are broadcast live. This graphic would change over the years. Furthermore, until 2009, the Totocalcio ticket was shown at the interval and at the end of the matches.
During the first eight years of the program, comedians such as Teo Teocoli, Anna Marchesini and lesser known but still appreciated personalities alternated alongside the host, among which the Dutch astrologer Peter Van Wood, the Gambian journalist and Juventus fan Idris, the Japanese designer Takahide Sano, the journalist and TV presenter Luciano Rispoli, the pediatric primary and rowdy Sampdoria fan Renato Panconi, the Lazio nun Sister Paola, the journalist Paolo Brosio and the impassive-looking statistics expert Massimo Alfredo Giuseppe Maria Buscemi.
The singer Anastacia performed on the 4th of March of 2001 her single Not That Kind.
During the first 4 years of broadcast, there were also fixed connections from the stadiums, and in particular, Everardo Dalla Noce - a former radio commentator and face of TG2 who for many years hosted the economic section - who commented all the games from the various stadiums in Italy together with his assistant, as well as director, Giacomo Forte. In addition to some episodes of the first 3 years, another former face of Tg2, Onofrio Pirrotta, was locked up in a newspaper kiosk at an Italian newsstand. From 1996 to 1999, the engineer Professor Roberto Vacca joined the guests of Quelli che il calcio.
In the same edition, the comedian Maurizio Battista joined the show from 1997 to 1999, then leaving the space to Maurizio Crozza.