A long round of applause to celebrate the exciting journey of the National Under-20 Team, whose second-place finish at the FIFA World Cup marked the best result in Azzurri history at the tournament. From the victory in the opener against Brazil to the final lost by a narrow margin to Uruguay, passing through the successes against the Dominican Republic, England, Colombia and South Korea: for three weeks Carmine Nunziata's team made millions of Italians excited, showcasing their talents and confirming the quality of the Giovanili Azzurre and the Club Italia selection and training system.

Immediately after returning to Italy, the squad was welcomed at the FIGC headquarters by the applause of all the staff present and by Federal President Gabriele Gravina, who wanted to pay tribute to the protagonists of the World Cup in Argentina, where Italy managed to improve on the results obtained in the 2017 (third place) and 2019 (fourth place) editions. "I congratulate the players, the coach, coordinator Viscidi and all the staff," Gravina said, "what they managed to do in Argentina, despite losing in the final, was a wonderful advertisement for Italian soccer. We have young talent that demands to be utilized, without looking for players from abroad in my opinion not always of great quality. In recent years, strategic work has been done in Club Italia with very knowledgeable coaches and staff. We play a role of investment and developing these youngsters that we believe is irreplaceable, but the clubs must also believe in it."

In addition to the strength of the group, Italy also showcased its excellent individual talents, making en plein in the awards ceremony held at the end of the final: Golden Ball (best player) and Golden Shoe (top scorer) for Cesare Casadei, Golden Glove (best goalkeeper) for Sebastiano Desplanches. "It was a magnificent experience," stressed coach Carmine Nunziata, "the credit goes to the FIGC, to the whole team that supported us during the competition and especially to the players. You showed everyone that you are a great group, you were team, you played soccer and had fun. Our big victory was getting the fans here in Italy involved." The coach's words preceded the thanks and greetings to those present from FIGC secretary general Marco Brunelli, coordinator of the men's national youth teams Maurizio Viscidi, and head of delegation of the Under-20 selection Marcello Nicchi.

After the meeting, during which an emotional video was shown that reviewed the best moments of the Azzurri campaign, Desplanches himself spoke at the microphones of the reporters present. "We are aware that we have achieved a historic result and played a great World Cup - these are the words of the Vicenza-owned goalkeeper - we are happy even if losing in the final hurts a lot. We return home with a silver medal that represents a great achievement. We showed that strong youngsters, in Italy, are there. We played with Brazil and England, nations that believe strongly in young people, and we showed that we can play. We need to believe more in the young people and not wait too many years of a draft, we need to take risks and throw ourselves in earlier."

Also very pleased to have given emotions to the fans and to have reached the final, Tommaso Baldanzi: "We made history, we are proud," added the Empoli attacking midfielder, one of the few players from the Under 20s to already have a stable place among the 'big boys', "Serie A gives you a lot of experience, I thank the club that gave me confidence and made me live this season and 13 fantastic years.