MILAN – Roberto Samaden spoke to Inter Channel the day after Stefano Vecchi’s Nerazzurri Primavera side won the 67th edition of the Viareggio Cup: "Winning the Viareggio Cup again is very satisfying, particularly as the victory was so well-deserved. It’s a triumph that we’ve built right from the bottom up, with five players in the team that have been with us right through from the under-11s. It’s validation of the way we work on a daily basis."
The Inter youth academy director went on to give his view on Arrigo Sacchi’s comments regarding the state of youth football in Italy: "I don’t think he meant what has been reported. He certainly didn’t mean that. Our job is to select promising players. We have 15 foreign players out 265 and I really don’t think it’s a problem in Italian youth football."
Returning to the Primavera success story, Samaden explained: "The growth of the team and the group has been impressive, and they’ve always had the correct attitude. We’ve been faced with a number of issues, both in terms of the climate and the state of the playing surface, but the team showed their mettle and you have to give credit to the coach and his staff for that.
"Including the league match against Udinese, we’ve played eight times in 16 days. There’s a lot of hard work going into every performance, from the coaching staff and players," declared Samaden.
Samaden was then interviewed by Sky Sport 24: "We’ve demonstrated how much work we’ve been putting in on a daily basis. I’m delighted. It’s a victory of the entire Inter youth academy."
Asked about a couple of young Nerazzurri stars in particular, Samaden said: "Bonazzoli’s attitude was absolutely spot on, whilst Puscas certainly has the potential to become a top player. He’s in safe hands – Roberto Mancini is the best there is. He’ll allow these lads to grow. His presence is a real source of motivation for them.
"We’ve been working on this youth academy since 2000. Every day, we have a whole host of people showing real passion and dedication to the cause. We have 265 registered players and only 15 of them are foreign, with nine coaching centres across Italy. In the recent U21s match between Italy and Denmark, seven of the players came from our youth academy. I’m sure that Mr Sacchi didn’t mean to offend black players," concluded Samaden.
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INTERYOUNG PT 18 VITTORIA VIAREGGIO CUP
