{"id":22712,"date":"2023-08-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=22712"},"modified":"2023-08-12T06:40:50","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T06:40:50","slug":"vatican-swiss-guard-challenge-boss-vicenza-in-soccer-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=22712","title":{"rendered":"Vatican Swiss Guard challenge BOSS Vicenza in soccer match"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Members of Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) Vicenza played and won 3-1 against the Vatican Swiss Guard Team in a soccer match at the Track and Field on Caserma Ederle Aug. 10, 2023. Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund, Commanding General, Southern European Task Force-Africa and Command Sgt. Maj. Reese Teakell, joined the BOSS team as guest players. At the end of the event, a trophy was presented to the winners. Photo by Laura Krieder\/USAG Italy Public Affairs Office
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VICENZA, Italy \u2014 Caserma Ederle hosted a friendly soccer match Aug. 10, between two uniquely related teams; Soldiers from the Vicenza Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program and the Vatican Swiss Guard who are normally tasked with the safety of the Pope and also known as \u201cthe world\u2019s smallest army.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n BOSS Vicenza team captains, Kevin Alejandro Navas and Raul Vargas took home the Vatican Cup after defeating the Vatican Swiss Guard in a soccer match at the Ederle athletic field on Caserma Ederle Aug. 10. Photo by Laura Kreider\/USAG Italy Public Affairs
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For the last eight years, excluding a year where COVID interrupted, the teams typically meet annually in Vatican City, however, this year they scrimmaged at Caserma Ederle on the athletic field.<\/p>\n

Over a decade ago, Claudio Adamo, a retired local national employee with over 40 years of service with the Department of Public Works at U.S. Army Garrison Italy, began organizing the annual \u201cVatican Cup\u201d with his counterpart, Fabio Bertoluzzi.<\/p>\n

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\n Claudio Adamo, organizing official for the Vatican Cup looked through newspaper clippings with Randy Jackson, U.S. Army Garrison Italy Public Affairs Command Information Chief, of the Vatican Cup matches from the last several years. Photo by Stefanie Mosley\/USAG Italy Public Affairs Office
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\u201cTo know each other, the different communities, the different mentalities, and join together, and the vehicle is sports,\u201d said Adamo. \u201cIt makes people come together, so any mental barrier goes down because you enjoy together, and when you enjoy together you become friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Raphael Albert and Jonas Koch, Vatican Swiss Guards, were guests on the AFN afternoon radio show with Staff Sgt. Tyler Ewing on Caserma Ederle ahead of the soccer match. Photo by Stefanie Mosley\/USAG Italy Public Affairs Office
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After traveling by train from Rome, the Guards had a full itinerary. They were able to experience an American barbeque at the Ederle Chapel, a K-9 unit training event, a guest appearance on the AFN afternoon radio show, and tried American delicacies like fast food options at the food court. They also toured Del Din to see how American Soldiers live and work. The Guards also hit local Vicenza hotspots such as historic downtown, Villa la Rotunda, and Monte Berico.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Switzerland, learning multiple languages from a young age, and holding his faith close, joining the Swiss Guard was an honor for 19-year-old Jonas Koch.<\/p>\n

When they were given the chance to play for the Guard\u2019s team for the league in Vatican City, they jumped on it. Little did they know that they would become friends with U.S. Soldiers and found they had even more in common than soccer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the comradery between the guys, in all military organizations you live together, work together, have fun together, you do it all together,\u201d said Koch.<\/p>\n

Raul Vargas, a team captain for BOSS Vicenza was happy to host the Guards after practicing for weeks for the match. Both teams came ready to play, but the Guards were ultimately defeated 3-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great game, it was tough,\u201d said Vargas. \u201cThis is the first time that we beat them here in Vicenza. We are super proud to bring this trophy to our house.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Boss Vicenza scored a penalty kick in the first half against the Vatican Swiss Guard in a soccer match at the Ederle track and field on Caserma Ederle. Photo by Laura Krieder\/USAG Italy Public Affairs Office
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Later this year, the teams will meet again in Vatican City where the Americans will attend a mass, tour Vatican City, experience how the Guards live their daily lives, and once again, go head-to-head on their turf to battle for the \u2018Vatican Cup.\u2019<\/p>\n

For more pictures from the game click here<\/a><\/p>\n

For videos and interviews click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) Vicenza played and won 3-1 against the Vatican Swiss Guard Team in a soccer match at the Track and Field on Caserma Ederle Aug. 10, 2023. Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund, Commanding General, Southern European Task Force-Africa and Command Sgt. Maj. Reese Teakell, joined the BOSS team as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22714,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22712"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22720,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22712\/revisions\/22720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}