Euphoria ensued yesterday evening in India as the country’s FIFA Under-17 World Cup-bound national Under-17 team pulled off a major upset by beating Italy Under-17s 2–0.
However, amid the hysteria of India’s historic win, new details have emerged which somewhat seem to take the sheen off the Colts’ victory. While the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced the friendly match opponents to be the Italian Under-17 national side, it has since come to light that the team that turned up to face India wasn’t the first team.
As things transpired, the team that took to the field against the Indian Colts was a representative side of Lega Pro. The team comprised youth team players from Lega Pro and Lega Pro 2 clubs.
Lega Pro and Lega Pro 2 are respectively the third and fourth tiers of the Italian football pyramid. Usually, across Europe, lower league players represent a country’s C team, so it is possible that Italy fielded their C team yesterday against India, something which sours the taste of the 2–0 win.
Italy Under-17s participated in the recently concluded Under-17 European Championship, but no member of their Euro contingent took part in the game against India. This clearly suggests that Italy weren’t fielding their first-choice eleven, but whether the AIFF knew about it is yet unclear.
Indian football’s governing body revelled in the post-match celebrations, lapping up plaudits right, left and centre, but should they have disclosed the fact that the team India beat yesterday wasn’t actually the first-choice Italy Under-17s?
Furthermore, yesterday’s Italy Under-17s were coached by Daniele Arrigoni, while the national Under-17s’ coach is Emiliano Bigica. Here are the Italy Under-17s squads from the Euros and yesterday’s games:
Italy Under-17s vs India Under-17s: Federico Brancolini—Modena, Edoardo Corvi—Parma, Francesco Micheli—Albinoleffe, Simone Della Morte—Lucchese, Davide Missaglia—Cremonese, Marco Ruggero—Padova, Antonio Vitale—Modena, Nicolo Maffini—Carrarese, Alessio Gianneschi—Robur Siena, Antonio Marrone—Juve Stabia, Matteo Bertollo—Bassano Virtus, Michael Fibiano—Juve Stabia, Alberto Maroni—Mantova, Alessandro Ramello—Alessandria, Alessandro Galeandro—Albinoleffe, Davide Rosso—Padova, Davide Rodolfi—Albinoleffe, Alessandro Davitti—Modena.
Italy Under-17s for Under-17 Euros: Simone Ghidotti—Fiorentina, Marco Carnesecchi—Cesena, Raoul Bellanova—AC Milan, Antonio Candela—Spezia, Matteo Anzolin—Vicenza, Davide Bettella—Inter Milan, Alex Campeol—AC Milan, Gabriele Bellodi—AC Milan, Andrea Rizzo Pinna—Atalanta, Elia Visconti—Inter Milan, Fabrizio Caligara—Juventus, Roberto Biancu—Cagliari, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia—Juventus, Emanuel Vignato—Chievo, Manolo Portanova—Lazio, Moise Kean—Juventus, Davide Merola—Inter Milan, Pietro Pellegri—Genoa.
It remains to be seen how the AIFF reacts to the facts that have come out. What was a historic moment for Indian football has the potential to turn into a farce, only because of forking out misleading information.
