VIAREGGIO. In the list of players to whom Luciano Spalletti has entrusted himself to attack the European throne, there are sixteen players who had their first approach to international football at the Viareggio tournament. Two of them (Dimarco and Scamacca) have even won it, others like Buongiorno and Mancini have only come close to it, as has Bryan Cristante who in the 2012 tournament tasted the bitter cup of defeat with Milan beaten in the final by Anderlecht. A disappointment partly mitigated by the awarding of the “Golden Boy”, the prize intended for the best player of the tournament chosen by a technical jury and which also includes in its roll of honor the names of Spinazzola and Immobile with whom Cristante shared the joy of winning the European championship in England in blue.
Federico Dimarco won the 2015 Viareggio tournament with Inter coached by Stefano Vecchi. The Azzurri’s downhill full-back played six out of seven matches, also scoring a goal against the Indonesians of Pro Duta.
Gianluca Scamacca also certainly has among his fondest memories as a young footballer the photo of him raising the Burlamacco statuette to the sky, a trophy he won with Sassuolo in 2017. The striker plays all seven matches and scores three times. First against Fiorentina in the round of 16, then against Inter in the quarterfinals. But it is in the final against Empoli that the big Roman boy becomes decisive. First he scored the 2-2 goal with a few minutes to go, then, after not even extra time had changed the balance, he scored the last penalty, the decisive one, which handed the trophy to the Emilians for the first time. It should not be forgotten that the Italian center forward had made his debut in the Viareggio event two years earlier, when he had recently turned 16, wearing the PSV Eindhoven shirt with which he had signed his first professional contract a month ago, after leaving Roma. A debut enhanced by an assist for the 2-1 with which the Dutch eleven beat Milan. The Rossoneri goalkeeper that day was a peer of him, Gigio Donnarumma.
All the defenders of Spalletti’s squad, with the exception of Calafiori, Cambiaso and Gatti, had their first approaches to an international tournament like the one in Viareggio right on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, which until a few years ago was the most important private event. to young footballers. Matteo Darmian was present in three editions with Milan between 2007 and 2009, then it was the turn (2010 and 2011) of a boy from Garfagnana, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who wore the Reggina shirt, while in 2014 and following edition, Gianluca Mancini stands out at the center of Fiorentina’s defense. Among his teammates (in 2015) there is also Federico Chiesa. In that Viola found little space, but had time to enter the scoreboard with a goal scored against Spezia in the quarterfinals.
Among the midfielders dressed in blue, Jorginho played in the tournament in 2010 with Sassuolo and Lorenzo Pellegrini with Roma in 2014 and 2015. In the roster of attackers, known as Chiesa and Scamacca, Stephan El Shaarawy also left his mark, scoring two goals in the five matches played with Genoa between 2009 and 2010 and Mattia Zaccagni, author of a goal with the magic of Verona in 2014. However, no goals for Giacomo Raspadori on the pitch with Sassuolo in 2018.
But as is customary, starting from the second half of the last century, in the world and European events there are players who have played in the tournament. This edition of the greatest event of the Old Continent is also no exception where twenty-one players will be present, representing nine nations, who have passed through the Viareggio Tournament. Among the best known in Belgium we find Romelu Lukaku, who scored against Genoa in the Anderlecht shirt (2009) and Charles De Ketelaere, two goals in the 2019 edition where he dragged Brugge to the semi-finals. In Denmark, captain Simon Kjaer played the 2008 tournament with Midtjylland, also scoring a goal. Then the Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina 2019) and the Swiss Remo Freuler (Grasshopper 2011).
The record belongs to Albania which presents five children from the tournament. Among these are Lazio defender Elsed Hysaj (Empoli 2012) and Kristjan Asslani, Inter midfielder who participated in the tournament with Empoli in 2019. Without forgetting that two coaches present at the European Championship also participated in the tournament as footballers: the coach of Hungary, our Marco Rossi, present in 1984 with the victorious Torino and that of the Lions of England, Gareth Southgate who played in the tournament 90 in the ranks of Crystall Palace.
