I had been waiting for today's partita (soccer match) for weeks. I'd look at the tickets every few days and count the days until the big day. I heard on the radio this morning that the partita was sold out and that there would be 40,000 tifosi (soccer fans) attending Fiorentina's first home partita against Barcelona. It was a partita amichevole (friendly match), but I couldn't wait to see all the new giocatori (players) like Gilardino, Jovetic, and Melo, and some of the old ones like Frey, Pazzini, Mutu, and Donadel.