18 giugno 2008

Youth team's trip to the US over

There has been something of an international feel to Juventus' Youth Team's season. Indeed the year 2007/08 will be remembered for two rather glamorous journeys. After the positive experience last summer in Malaysia – where the boys came second in the Champions Youth Cup -, the young Bianconeri spent their last few days before going on holiday in the United States.

They stayed for a week in the Washington and Oregon states, stopping in the cities of Seattle, Portland and Eugene. It was the lads born in 1990 who took part in the summer tour (with a lot of them coming from the Berretti side), plus some born in 1989, among them the talented Essabr. The team’s expedition was guided from the bench by two men: Massimiliano Maddaloni, coach of the Under-16 team, and technical instructor Adolfo “Dodo” Sormani.

As mentioned before, there were three exhibition matches played during the trip, two of which against adult teams taking part in the USL (the American second division): the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers, against whom our lads lost both games (3-0 and 1-0). It went better in the final game, played last night in Eugene against a selection of young players from all over Oregon: the match ended 2-2 with goals by Fausto Rossi and Giuseppe Giovinco. Now that the engagements on the field have been honoured, the squad will make their way back to Italy on Thursday afternoon and after that everyone will officially go on holiday.

It was an important experience for the boys but also for Juventus as a whole, as they continue promoting their plans for activities in the United States, mostly thanks to their partnership with Nike and through the Juventus Soccer School project, which this year will take place in Beaverton (Nike's headquarters, located near Portland) and Los Angeles: three weeks of summer camps reserved to local budding young footballers.