Completing its stirring tale of football rebirth, Italy won the European Championship for the second time by beating England 3-2 on penalties on Sunday, July 11. And the cheering resonated all the way to San Pedro. More than 1,000 fans sporting Italy’s blue home-nation jerseys packed the patio at the Pepper Tree Plaza near City Hall for a Euro 2020 Final watch party.

The portside fans were not disappointed, as Gianluigi Donnarumma dove to his left to save the decisive spot kick by England’s Bukayo Saka, halfway ’round the planet at London’s Wembley Stadium. The South Bay community is home to one of the largest concentrations of people of Italian descent in California. A section of town was dubbed “Historic Little Italy” in 2019.