The Italy U-17 side have been crowned Champions of Europe after defeating Portugal by a margin of *3-0* in the final of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship on Wednesday evening.
Italy crowned U17 European Champions for the first time
First half goals from Roma-owned attacking midfielder Federico Coletta and Milan’s teenage sensation Francesco Camarda gave the Azzurrini a 2-0 lead by the 16th minute of Wednesday’s final. Camarda added his second of the night at the 50 minute mark.
The young Italians finished their Group with a 100% record, ending up on nine points after wins over Poland, Sweden and Slovakia.
They would go on to defeat England on penalties in the quarter-finals following a 1-1 draw in regulation time. It was Milan’s Mattia Liberali who got the Italian goal on that occasion.
Massimiliano Favi’s side would then go on to beat Denmark 1-0 in the semi-final after a 30th minute strike from the aforementioned Coletta.
It is the first time that Italy have won the Under-17 Championship. They had claimed the award once between 1982 and 2001, when the tournament was run at the Under-16 age category.
The original title came in the competition’s inaugural year in 1982, which was also hosted in Italy.
Five years later, in 1987, Italy were victorious in the final against the Soviet Union, but later had their title revoked after effectively fielding an ineligible player in Roberto Secci, who had been registered with an ‘irregular’ document.