The Italian Branch of the Supporters Club finished seventh at Italian Connection, an annual seven-a-side competition involving 16 official supporters clubs of UK sides held in Milan on Saturday. Simone Longo was in the side and reports.
Our objective was to improve on last year’s performance of going out in the group stages and finish the tournament in the top eight, and we are pleased to have done it.
We were in Group C with supporters of Manchester United, Aston Villa and Manchester City. In the first game we were confident from the start and we beat the Red Devils 6—1 with goals from Davide Casati, Emile Delle Foglie, Andrea Soler, Dario Cristofalo and a brace from Simone Longo.
In the second match we faced the Villans and we were unlucky to lose the game 1—0. The last match against the Citizens was crucial for reaching the knockout stage and goals from Andrea Soler and Dario Cristofalo saw us through from the first round.
At the end of group stage we were classified in second place with six points and a plus-seven goal difference.
In the quarter-finals we faced Everton and we were unlucky. In a very balanced game we missed all our chances and despite a good performance, we were beaten 1-0.
The Italian Blues: Fabio Cardillo Piccolino, Emile Delle Foglie, Simone Longo, Luca Capellini, Dario Cristofalo, Ipponello, Andrea Soler, Giacomo Grossoni, Francesco Rezzonico, Andrea Bobbiesi, Caludio Longo, Frank Ferrari, Davide Casati, Francesco Caldarola, Mattia Pirola and Marco Soler
Now we were out of the competition for first place but we could still play for a place between fifth and eighth.
A little bit unmotivated after missing out on the semi-final, we were beaten (in this case deservedly) 5—2 by Tottenham with our goals from Emile Delle Foglie and Dario Cristofalo.
Our mascot Ipponello!
Our last game of the tournament was for seventh or eighth against Liverpool. We just wanted to finish well and play with honour to the end the tournament and for the ITFC shirt.
With pride we pulled out the last bit of energy and with five goals by Simone Longo, three by Dario Cristofalo and one from Emile Delle Foglie we defeated the Reds 9—0!
Andrea Soler in action vs Manchester United
At the end therefore we finished in seventh place but, more important than the result, we really enjoyed the games, the spirit of group from our branch and shared our passion with others supporters in a friendly atmosphere.
The winners were the Villans who beat Everton in the final (both our opponents during the tournament). Our congrats to them (they admitted at the end that our team was the most hard to beat!) and all the participants.
The team at the closing ceremony: Andrea Soler, Ipponello, Dario Cristofalo, Emile Delle Foglie, Francesco Rezzonico, Luca Capellini. Andrea Bobbiesi, Giacomo Grossoni, Simone Longo, Mattia Pirola and Claudio Longo