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There are moments, in life, when dreams come true. It happened to Simone Pafundi on the bus, in Naples, when his thoughts were on the upcoming league match (Napoli 3-2 Udinese, 12 November 2022). His phone buzzed, a message. Corradi, Under-17s manager at the time: “Simo, do you have anything to tell me?”. And he, with the calmness of someone who didn’t know he was going to become part of Italian football history, responded, “no, boss”. Then came the sentence that changed everything: “They told me that Mancini (first team manager at the time) has selected you”, said the Italian talent to Vivo Azzurri TV. 

THE BEGINNINGS. Born in 2006, in Monfalcone where it all began. Udine then became his home. Football, for Simone, has always been a question of family: his first training sessions were with his older brother Andrea, on a pitch way too big for a five year old, but with his parent’s permission, only when they were watching. From then on, it became a matter of instinct and talent. At eight years old, Udinese called him. And the rest is history.

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HIS ITALY DEBUT. Let’s go back to that day. Albania in an international friendly. Simone was warming up for the whole of the second half. And then, he made it onto the pitch, replacing Marci Verratti, at the time a PSG star. He confessed, “at the time it was very tense, but, as soon as I stepped on to the pitch, I only wanted to enjoy the moment and have fun. The anxiety then went away”. It was as if the Qemal Stafa stadium was his back garden (Albania 1-3 Italia, 16 November 2022).

ITALY YOUTH. Then, the Under-20s World Cup, scheduled in Indonesia and played in Argentina. The year after, the Under-19 EUROs in Northern Ireland. A tournament that didn’t bring home any trophies, but left “positive” wounds and scars that you learn from. He said, “We didn’t win, but they were two experiences that taught us a lot. The World Cup was fantastic (Italy lost 1-0 to Uruguay in the final, 11 June 2023). It was a fantastic group. The EUROs, however, was hard work, but we didn’t deserve to lose in the semi-finals (1-0 loss to Spain in added time, 25 July 2024)”.

UNDER-21s. And now there’s another EUROs coming up, from 11 to 28 June in Slovakia. Simone wants to be there. With the same group that went to the World Cup two years ago, but now more mature, and with the experience of playing on the biggest stages, aware of how hard it is. Simone emphasised, “we know we are a strong team that can do great things and we will prove this”.

THE DREAM. “To get back in the first team”. But for him, dreams seem to be only a matter of time before they become reality. So perhaps it’s true. Maybe at some point during his afternoons in Monfalcone, that young boy with messy hair and a shirt too big for him dreamed of playing for Italy. At that point it was only a dream. Until that day that it became reality, on a bus, in Naples, with a simple, yet joyful message.