As the black-and-blue Under 17 saw their run in the Final Phase coming to its end in the quarter-finals against Roma, after finishing the regular season with the third place in the group standings, it was time for coach Gianpaolo Bellini to draw the final balance of the season:  “I am most satisfied with the progress and growth my lads have undoubtedly experienced throughout the season. Naturally, it goes without saying that I regret how everything eventually wrapped up; even though, mind you it is solely from a strictly outcome-oriented perspective, since I am fully convinced we could have reaped better rewards and we could have gone further. Going back to the match-up against Roma, we could have striven for something more, especially in the first, to be in with better chances in the second leg”.

“Apart from the bitterness stemming from the final outcome- the black-and-blue coach follows up – we should all shift to the bigger picture and  focus on to what has been done throughout the whole season: after a great start, we have been through a tough patch both in terms of outcomes and general performances, but as we closed our ranks, the lads managed to toughen up and get over it. This, to my eyes, is one of the upshots and the main takeaway of an overall positive season and I take pride in it”.

When push came to shove, the team got back on its feet, moving up the ladder and eventually clinching the third place in the standings:

“These shortcomings taught the lads an invaluable lesson about teamwork: with football being a collective sport, going solo is a dead-end option and in order to reach personal achievements, a team-oriented mindset is of the essence. As such, as soon as we banded together and we started competing like a time, outcomes eventually  came along. As this is a key aspect of the game I’ve been hammering at, I hope it would find them in good stead in the years ahead”.

All things aside, the upbringing of our youngsters stands out as the first priority and the main pride and joy of each trainer:

“Perhaps the fact that many players were also involved in the commitments of the the higher-ranked sides, especially in the first half of the season, also gave us a better chance at assessing each situation better and ensuring a wider degree of involvement other lads, giving them the proper time and space for a better personal and professional growth. As I take great pride in this choice, I’ll proudly stand by it: to me, each season is based on its own merit and since we trainers could be seen as the various steps that make up a fairly stretched ladder, our main goal is to give these lads a “foothold” and prepare them for the next step”.