Bollini’s group, with captain Faticanti in the lead, received compliments from the leaders of Italian sport in the FIGC. Abodi and Gravina in chorus: “Focus on these guys!”
– Rome
THE Champions of Europe of the Italy Under 19 team led by Alberto Bollini were received at the FIGC by the leaders of Italian football and sport. Immediately after disembarking at Fiumicino – around 5 pm – the blue expedition returning from Malta with the continental title of the category was welcomed in via Allegri to the applause of the federal president Gabriel Gravina and the number one of Coni Gianni Malagówho greeted Captain Giacomo with a handshake Fatiguing exclaiming “The country is proud of you”. In fact, last night’s success in Malta adds yet another milestone to the results already achieved by Club Italia from October 2018 to today: in addition to the European titles won by the A national team (2021) and the one that arrived yesterday thanks to Bollini’s baby boys, there are 399 the matches won by the blue teams – out of 590 played – in addition to the two successes achieved in the Elite League in 2021/22 and 2022/23 by the Under 20s.
NATIONAL PRIDE
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The first to congratulate Bollini’s boys is the president of Coni Malagò, impatient to welcome the new European Champions: “It was a wonderful thing, it was needed. Even the Under 20s had gone well. I’m happy for Italian football, then there’s always bitterness about other results, but this success bodes well“. The FIGC number one is also enthusiastic Gravina, who underlines how yesterday’s victory is only the latest goal achieved by the Federation: “The boys were extraordinary as was coach Bollini. An incredible job by all of Club Italia, a supply chain that has always given great results even if it has happened to have caressed the gold without being able to hit it several times. This is an important medal, which gives the sense of beauty”. Gravina continues by emphasizing the importance of young people as the lifeblood of our football, with the hope that the title won in Malta can in some way make Italian clubs reflect on the resources to grow and enhance at home: “Italian football has many talents, these talents always lack an opportunity, to be able to become champions, and you have practicing the game of football through the use and it is incredible how 90% of this team comes only from the Primavera championship, and only three players have five appearances in Serie A, and only one player has ten appearances for a Lega Pro club. So the message is clear and strong. Once again these guys are asking aloud to be involved and used and to be able to play because they are on a par with many other great players.”
ABODI
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Immediately after the team’s arrival, the Minister for Sport Andrea Abodi also reached via Allegri to personally congratulate the blue group. Also in this case, in addition to commenting on Bollini’s team’s feat, the minister did not miss an opportunity to issue a warning to Serie A clubs, which too often do not seem to have the courage to bet on the talents of their own nursery: “We are here to celebrate an extraordinary feat. I hope that Serie A has seen these two games well (against Spain and Portugal, ed) and knows how to draw the right inspiration, beyond the fact that these guys are all in Serie A clubs, but I hope to see them more in field than on the bench”.
STAMPS
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But the lights of the spotlights are obviously aimed at the protagonists of the extraordinary ride that led Italy under 19 to conquer the second European title twenty years after the national team led by Paolo Berrettini in 2003 in Lichtenstein. “I always thank the federation for this experience, I’ve spent my life on the bench in all the youth categories” explains coach Bollini, who explains the strengths that have brought his boys to the top step in Europe: “Playing football European youth level is particular. You have to be prepared, ready and modern to win in Europe. I tried to convey all this to the guys. My concern was the athletic condition because we didn’t have any friendlies between May and June. But I say well done to the boys and staff for having regained energy after the beating in the group stage with Portugal”. “A historic victory as we all say. It would be presumptuous to say that we knew it from the beginning” instead says the coordinator of the national youth teams Maurizio Viscidi : “It’s proof that there are young people to focus on, however good Bollini is, then it’s the technique that goes into the field. You need many things to complete a job. It’s like having good students who then fail to enter the world of work”. Captain Giacomo Faticanti was also visibly excited, launched among the greats by José Mourinho at Roma: “It was an incredible emotion. Raising him as captain doubles everything. It is something special. We believed in it, we grew up compared to other national teams who were used to winning on velvet. When we got through the round as a fish, we understood that we had to roll up our sleeves.”
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