Viareggio Caput Mundi

Pizza, mandolin, and Viareggio tournament. Call it also Viareggio Cup or Carnival Cup, but the prestigious competition for young players confirms once again the wealth of our football, a flower that seems to never wilt despite the passing years. The edition which is playing, and that is now close to the end, is the 71th: born almost as a joke among some football addicted, between the tables of Bar Trieste, has become over the years a basic way, almost binding, in the career of those who want to become a footballer. For many years it was in Viareggio that you had to go to find new talent, and bet on them even before being dazzled by the light of the spotlight: as Maurizio Crosetti wrote a few years ago, "a little-protected oasis and a little reserve of hunting".

Formed initially by the CGC (Youth Players Center), the Tournament of Viareggio has become one of the absolute pride of our Football Federation with the passing of the seasons, starting to attract many foreign clubs including the most famous. In these (first) 71 years have passed in the best prospects of our football (from Baggio to Del Piero, from Totti to Cassano, and also Marchisio and Balotelli), great managers (a young Arrigo Sacchi), even some future Ballon d'Ors (Roberto Baggio), so many illustrious protagonists that making a list of those who participated would be really vain. Not even some changes between in the board, the role of TV's and the economic crisis have managed to destroy this real heritage, which between one change and another (among many, the move to the month of March) was figured with 40 teams at the starting line, representatives of all the continents.

It is obvious that such a tournament can not only live on memories, and on several occasions, extra efforts have been made by all the forces involved, sports one and others, in order to guarantee a worthy survival and a capillary organization. The situation regarding the grounds, for example, is absolutely current: in addition to the 'Torquato Bresciani' better known as the 'Stadio dei Pini', the historic venue of the final, the competition exploits other locations, involving different regions and provinces. But this year the Viareggio stadium is not available, and then the first and final match will be played in Liguria, at the 'Alberto Picco' stadium in La Spezia. But to modernize most of the current structures remains a common desire for virtually everyone, a real necessity, one of the main purposes for future editions. Although some huge local defections (Juventus, Napoli, Sampdoria, Atalanta, Lazio, and Roma are missing), also this year the contenders were really strong: certainly it suffered the lack of many top European clubs who preferred to focus on the Youth League, the only real youth competition (organized by UEFA) that over the last few years has overlapped the Viareggio Tournament and that in recent years has assumed ever greater prominence.

The 2019 edition for all players born after 1 January 2000 (with only three players born in 1999 allowed) was rich of emotions, surprises, but above was the occasion to emphasize the women's football: for the first time it was possible to organize the Women's Cup, with eight participants. While the girls' tournament is already over, and Juventus managed to triumph against Sassuolo, the men's final will see an unusual challenge scheduled, Genoa against Bologna: the Sabatini's squad who beat Parma thanks to an amazing comeback against the other red and blue team, coached by Troise, who instead defeated Bruges only on penalties. It will certainly be an opportunity to determine who the Golden Boy will go to, the award to the best player in the tournament, and who will be the top scorer. Some names? Among the Ligurians the Hungarian striker Szabo among the most surprising players, while in the ranks of the Emilians Cossalter stands out, who has already scored three goals and is also in the running for the goleador prize.