What better way to start off your Tuesday than with the heartwarming tale of an Italian soccer player and his grandmother?
On Sunday, AS Roma's Alessandro Florenzi scored a goal during his squads 2-0 victory against Cagliari. It was a nice goal - Florenzi sped by the defense to the edge of the six-yard box and knocked a shot in between a sliding defender and the goalie's outstretched arm - but nothing too out of the ordinary.
What happened next, though, has the 23-year-old midfielder facing punishment, along with female hearts, no doubt, fluttering throughout Rome.
Florenzi hopped over the back partition, climbed into the crowd...and hugged his grandmother. Now, doesn't that just make you feel good?
I mean, seriously? That's a whole boatload of pretty cool right there.
In this day and age of NFL domestic violence, drug abuse and athletes across the world acting the part of spoiled, self-centered millionaires, it's a pretty nice change of pace to see a heartfelt gesture between a professional athlete and his beloved grandmother.
"My gran's fantastic," Florenzi told Sky Sport Italia, via ESPN FC. "It was her first time here. She never came to watch me play even when I was a kid and it would have been easy. This time she's come all this way at the age of 82. She told me after I missed that chance for the national team that she would come to the stadium just to see me, but that I had to go and say 'hi' to her."
Florenzi, whose elderly grandmother was present for the first time ever to watch her grandson play live in the Stadio Olimpico, was given a yellow card upon his return to the field and, "will now be fined for breaking the club's code of conduct, which punishes players for picking up avoidable bookings."
Roma coach Rudi Garcia spoke in the tone of a parent who attempted to admonish a child for doing something that was technically wrong, but found his actions to be quite endearing.
"He's going to pay a fine. But he will be happy to pay it. It was a beautiful image, to see his grandmother so delighted and moved. I love to see moments like this," Garcia said.
