Dreams, as the saying goes, cost nothing.
But when your sporting hopes have been dashed by defeat, even
that can seem like too heavy a price to pay.
If you don't support one of the giants of football the
chances are you will invest a lot of time, effort and emotion in
your club for very little reward.
So when the good times come, you have to savor them to the
full.
Fans of Fiorentina, the team from a city more famed for its
art than its football, are enjoying such a moment right now.
On Wednesday night they beat Liverpool at Anfield to finish
top of their group and go into the last 16 of the Champions League.
It is not a position they are used to occupying.
Alberto Gilardino's injury time goal made a world of a
difference to the Viola.
It has helped them to avoid the likes of Barcelona, Real
Madrid and the English trio of Arsenal, Manchester United and
Chelsea in the next round.
Instead, they will face either Bayern Munich, Stuttgart, CSKA
Moscow, Olympiakos or Porto.
None of them easy, but none of them unbeatable (although
Juventus fans might argue Louis van Gaal's side come close).
But make no mistake, Fiorentina have earned the right to
believe they can progress to the quarterfinals.
While Inter and Milan were making heavy work of
qualification, they came through with five wins out of six
— their only defeat being suffered with ten men after a
controversial sending off.
They have stood toe-to-toe with Lyon and Liverpool, two
regulars in the Champions League knockout stages, and not looked
inferior.
And in Juan Manuel Vargas, Stevan Jovetic, Sebastien Frey and
Alberto Gilardino they have had some of the star performers of the
group games.
Of course, it won't be simple to progress.
Nonetheless, the long-suffering fans of Fiorentina surely
deserve the right to believe that they could get through to the
final eight.
Their performances so far entitle them to look to the future
with at least a small degree of confidence.
If nothing else, they can sleep soundly for the next couple
of months knowing they are among the best 16 sides in Europe and
might yet prove themselves even better than that.
<i>Giancarlo Rinaldi is a contributor for</i>
<a href="http://bleacherreport.com/world-football"
target="_blank">Bleacher Report</a><i>, the open
source sports network.</i>
