by Guido Vaciago
So, the young talent is there after all. At least that is the conclusion one might draw from the past week. Somewhat overshadowed by tennis, Formula 1 and the transfer market, the players selected by Silvio Baldini for the senior national team won two matches, while Italy’s Under-17 side reclaimed the European Championship they had already won two years ago.
These days, it is a rather easy exercise to criticize Italian football, which offers an embarrassingly long list of weaknesses and an irresistible opportunity to ride the intoxicating wave of pessimism. Of course, two victories against Luxembourg and Greece are not enough to turn everything around, but they are still positive signs.
Likewise, the Under-17 European title will require hard work and dedication if it is not to become a dusty trophy sitting in the Italian Football Federation’s cabinet rather than a launching pad for a generation of talented players. Yet it remains an achievement worth highlighting.
These are signs of life, messages from a football system that may be ill but is certainly not dying. It needs treatment, not necessarily a complete reset.
When it comes to young players, for example, it is essential to establish a clear pathway. The question therefore becomes: where will these newly crowned European champions be playing next season?
The logical answer would be in the Primavera championship, testing themselves at a higher level and continuing a development process that inevitably involves learning through adversity. Yet if one looks at the birth years of the players who featured in the most recent Primavera 1 final between Fiorentina and Parma, there was no shortage of players born in 2006.
That suggests many clubs will choose to place these newly crowned European champions, born in 2009, in the Under-18 league, while filling their Primavera squads with players born in 2007 and 2008. But is the Under-18 competition challenging enough for coach Franceschini’s players, or does it risk becoming too comfortable an environment, one that offers limited opportunities for growth?
Once again, the decisions made by clubs—who are not all the same, it should be noted—become crucial. Developing talent requires courage and a clear vision of a pathway designed for individual growth, not for the pursuit of fleeting team success.
The Under-17 side that defeated Belgium possesses enormous potential: some highly gifted technical players (Corigliano, for example) and, just as importantly, a wealth of character and personality, qualities that should never be underestimated.
The ball is now in the clubs’ court.
In Spain, players born in 2009 often find themselves making first-team debuts. We may never show that level of courage in Italy, but surely we can at least give them a chance in the Primavera.
