After a great display of character, the Under-16 National Team drew 2-2 with France to win the Val de Marne Tournament. After beating Russia 2-1 and Belgium 4-2, the Azzurrini risked falling to the hosts in the final game of the competition played in Bonneuil-sur-Marne. Indeed, France made the most of two mistakes from Bernardo Corradi’s side and were two up after just 16 minutes thanks to Fougeu and Pirringuel goals. The Under-16s, who had taken the lead in their previous games and never looked like being pegged back, were thus faced with an uphill struggle.

But despite the early double blow, the Azzurrini rolled up their sleeves and tackled the situation head-on in the second half. After just three minutes, Milan striker Leonardo Rossi reduced the arrears via a deflection off a French defender. The equaliser then came five minutes from the end through Roma midfielder Giacomo Faticanti. A thrilling finale that left Head Coach Corradi feeling pleased: “I’m really happy for the lads, who I’ve seen grow game after game,” he said after the match. “Today, they put in a really mature performance not only from a technical point of view, but also in terms of the way they went about things. This is of great importance when you’re a young player.

“After two games where everything went smoothly and we took the lead and went on to control matters without any difficulties, this time we were forced to do the chasing as a result of our own mistakes. However, this can happen at this age. When we were in the changing room, we sat down, looked at each other and analysed everything that wasn’t quite right with a sense of calm. I saw another side when the players returned to the pitch, they actually played better than what they did against Russia and Belgium. I would like to thank them for this, this is a team that can have great success because these lads are more mature than their age.”

Val de Marne Tournament: final standings

Standings: ITALY 7 points, Russia 6, Belgium 3, France 1.