“Juventus shit, go Toro”: the story of the Irish MEP who encouraged Torino in the European Parliament

Mick Wallace he is Irish. Since 2019 he has represented the left in the European Parliament, where this Thursday he was once again the center of attention for his fanaticism for football. Bearded and dressed in garnet red, he pulled out a football version of the “class struggle”: 48 hours before the Turin classic, he wished good luck to his proletarian Turin and sent Juventus, the aristocratic, to “shit” Old lady.

Wallace is a figure in the European Parliament. He is distinguished by his white hair, a pendant in his left ear, a thick beard and a relaxed style. And also for his ideas: he usually condemns US imperialism, criticizes Israel for the war in Gaza and even questions the government of Mauricio Macri. But if football is a religion, for him – contrary to what orthodox Marxism claims – football is not the opium of the people.

“Juventus shit, go Toro!”said Wallace, dressed in the Torino shirt, a poor and unfortunate neighbor of a city governed in sporting terms by the multiple champion Juventus.

It happened during a plenary session of the Parliament of the old continent, although the images then quickly spread on social networks. He himself was commissioned to replicate the video, in which he addresses the authorities with a characteristic Italian expression.

“Good luck to Toro on Saturday against Juve. Juve shit, Forza Toro”. First of all, best wishes and good luck for your Torino, who will face each other in the Italian championship on Saturday. The rest needs no translation.

“Playing against Juventus is always a difficult match for those who don’t have Juve’s money, but the people of Turin always have hope. Always”, writes the most Italian of the Irish MEPs, a Granata fan for his sister, on his X account. Mary.

Although the marriage of sports and politics has its detractors, the votes between the two are continually renewed. Perhaps for the incursion of power into the stages of large stadiums or for its “scenes out of context”, like this one that Wallace drew on a tile of the European Parliament. And he wasn’t the first.

“Him again”the newspaper wrote in 2019 The print in giving an interview at the end of a session in which he wore the colors of Turin also on his bench 221, the Gue armchair in the Brussels office.

That October 12th, Wallace, 55 years old, father of four children and already a member of parliament in his country, he explained his love for Turin in an interview.

“Because it’s a beautiful shirt,” he laughed in front of a reporter and a camera five years ago. “I have been a Torino fan for many years, I am a Torino season ticket holder and I am passionate about football. I have coached football for many years in Ireland, I am very busy there, but I have always found Torino different, an incredible club“he said before falling into the inevitable comparison with his bitter rival.

Far from Italian elegance and glamour, he said he will Marathonthe “curve” of the “Toro” fans.

“It’s a fantastic place to be. It’s one of the best experiences in life to be there. I feel very comfortable there. I like the atmosphere. It’s not just about football, There is something different with Torino, socially I felt very good there. I am on the left and on the ‘curve’ many people share my philosophy and my political ideas and obviously they don’t have the money that Juventus has”, he said speaking of his good harmony with the club which was able to have the glory until clash with the Basilica of Superga.

“I’ve been to the Juventus Stadium, but it’s not the same and I don’t feel comfortable there. The atmosphere is very different”, once again showing the differences with the club Agnelli, owner of Fiat.

But his sympathy also has personal roots: He is not the first Turin in his family. “My sister Mary moved to San Mauro Torinese in 1985 for work. I have followed many matches and seen many stadiums in Italy, but nothing compares to the Garnet. “It’s a special club,” she explained of the when and where of their romance.

There has already been a first burst of love, similar to this week. In March 2021 he celebrated the “Toro” comeback against Sassuolo in the Chamber: “We Irish are always on the side of the last and the fact that Garnet won today, on St. Patrick’s Daymakes me happy”.

Wallace knows that it is almost utopian to see his team champion, but every Turin derby can be a defeat for another team, and not for the Old Lady, to remain in Serie A. “It would be nice to help another team become champion and having them Juve is not”, he said regarding the significance of a possible victory.

Torino sails in mid-table, perhaps not enough for a giant but enough for the club of three decades without a trophy. The match of the 32nd, which will be played on Saturday at 1pm (Argentine time), will inflame the fans, who in the last few hours have accompanied the team in training with breaths and colored smoke. Qualifying for a European Cup would be almost like a championship.

“Toro” celebrated their last Italian Cup victory in 1993 and had not won the local championship since the 1975/76 season.

On social media, Wallace’s encouragement went unanswered. Maybe this weekend at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, the municipal pitch which is not the “Delle Alpi” where Maradona and Caniggia eliminated Brazil in 1990 and then became the Juventus Stadium, the home of the city’s powerful players.

Ukraine, Gaza, the Scaloneta and the criticism of Mauricio Macri: the world according to Wallace

For Wallace, a football fan, Turin is not enough. In that December 2022 which consecrated the Scaloneta in Qatar, the Irishman demonstrated his sympathy for the Argentine national team and for Lionel Messi.

“Viva Argentina,” he posted on X on December 26, 2022, eight days after the electrifying victory against France. In that publication she added a photo of a couple dancing the tango. Already on the 18th he had expressed his joy at the consecration of the national team: “The Argentine people deserve a little happiness.”

The phrase accompanied a video of the historic and massive celebrations in Buenos Aires. It didn’t end there: in January 2023, Inter fans paid homage to Lautaro Martínez, one of the 26 heroes of the Middle East.

Politics also plays a role. In August 2019, Wallace criticized Barack Obama, former president of the United States. But he did it not only for his time in Washington and for his national politics, but he also reported it for praising Mauricio Macri.

“It says a lot about Obama that he praised the Argentine right-wing leader, Macri, who put the financial interests of a few before those of the Argentine people…,” the MEP wrote.

The IMF was another target of Wallace’s criticism, when under the leadership of Christine Lagarde it supported the Cambiamos government.

“Lagarde has not covered herself in glory with her ridiculous support for Macri’s neoliberal policies in Argentina, for which she should not be held responsible,” she said on October 28, 2019, a few hours after Alberto Fernández won in the first round.

During his appearance in the European Parliament, the Irishman also criticized Europe for supporting what he called Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.

“Support for the Israeli genocide in Gaza has highlighted the so-called values ​​of the European Union: the true values ​​of the EU political class are racism and greed…” he said in April this year.

He praised China, repudiated the “14 billion dollars of the United States for the war and assured that Europe “is unfortunately subordinate to the American empire”.

However, at least once he aligned himself with NATO and Washington. In February, according to the European Parliament’s official website, he called for a resolution “on the need for unwavering support for Ukraine after two years of Russia’s war of aggression.”