On the turf of the “Ligorna” stadium in Genoa, Mr. Scorrano’s Under 19 selection deservedly beats Abruzzo after the penalty shootout and reaches today’s semi-final of the Tournament of Regions where it will face Emilia-Romagna which, in turn, got the better of Piedmont. An immense satisfaction that had been missing since 1978, when we won the then “Barassi Trophy”, which once again confirms the continuous growth of our Representatives. “I have a great group of men – so Mister Umberto Scorrano at the end of the race – to whom all my thanks go, splendid boys who fought with their heart and with the pride of representing Calabria. We are these, tomorrow (today for those reading, ed.) another battle awaits us and, as always, we will go and play it, because eleven are them and eleven are us”.
The match, after a sensational post hit by Costanzo which would have legitimized Calabrian territorial supremacy in the first minutes, broke the deadlock in the twenty-eighth minute when Calabrò, golden boy of Rossanese who is winning the Promotion championship, heads home a precise cross from Scarcella, coming from the right flank, giving Calabria the lead. The team plays well, there would be opportunities to double the lead, but Abruzzo finds the equalizer right at the end with Meola shooting deep to surprise Mileto at the near post. At half-time the score was 1-1. In the second half, then, there was a back and forth with the Abruzzo team ahead in the sixty-third thanks to Vespasiano, who overturned the score, only to be immediately restarted after less than a minute by the daring equalizer of Costanzo, Rende’s power forward, capable of entering the area from a tight angle and finding the right opening to kick towards the goal. Five minutes from the final whistle, Calabria had a great opportunity, but it was the crossbar that denied the boys the joy of a goal from a tireless Costanzo. We then go to the penalty shootout in which Miletus takes the chair who saves three, while Billetta, Costanzo, Picone and the decisive one from Michelli score in order. Calabria in history, it’s the semi-final, we’ll find Emilia-Romagna waiting for us.
The match scoreboard
UNDER 19
“Ligorna” Stadium in Genoa – 3pm
ABRUZZO-CALABRIA 5-6 dtr (pt 1-1, st 2-2)
ABRUZZO: Brassetti, Bozzolini, Corrado, Cutilli, D’Amore (45′ st Larivera), Di Giuseppe (43′ st Oddi), Meola (27′ st Faiella), Ricci, Tiberi (31′ st Damiani), Valerio, Vespasiano . All. Di Camillo
CALABRIA: Mileto, Scarcella (44′ st Grosso), Marino, Billetta, Michelli, Calabrò, Costanzo, Furiato (16′ st Silvagni), Frasson, Tutino, Sarpa (48′ st Picone). All. Scorrano
REFEREE: Mr. Cazacu (Albenga section)
ASSISTANTS: Mrs. Doci (Savona section) and Mr. Chamchi (Savona section)
SCOREERS: 28′ pt Calabrò (C), 45′ Meola (A), 63′ Vespasiano (A), 64′ Costanzo (C)
BOOKED: Cutilli (A), D’Amore (A), Calabrò (C), Di Giuseppe (A)
PENALTY SEQUENCE: Billetta goal (C), Bozzolini goal (A), Frasson saved (C), Cutilli saved (A), Calabrò saved (C), Oddi saved (A), Costanzo goal (C), Faiella goal (A) , Picone goal (C), Valerio goal (A), Michelli goal (C), Larivera saved (A)
