Youth Sector | Verona U17 fight hard, but Inter advance to the next round

Milan – At the Konami Football Centre, Inter-Hellas Verona ended 4–3, second leg of the Quarter-Final Playoff of the National Under 17 Championship.

The match starts with Inter taking a better approach to the game. In the 11th and 14th minutes, Raccanello is called into action with two great saves on Piva and Dade Lombardi, but he can do nothing about Piva’s goal in the 20th minute, when after a rebound in the box he finds himself with the ball on his right foot and fires it into the net.

Verona immediately tries to respond with efforts from Casagrande and Zanin, but they fail to hit the target. The game changes in the 39th minute: Casagrande shoots from distance, Inter goalkeeper Galliera fails to hold onto it, and on the rebound Bisoffi pounces but is brought down from behind. The referee awards a penalty and shows a red card to Cassini. From the penalty spot, Casagrande steps up and makes no mistake.

In the second half, Hellas start strongly, and in the 48th minute they take the lead again from the penalty spot, this time with Egharevba, who wins the foul and converts from 12 yards. Verona becomes dominant and in the 60th minute Casagrande produces the third goal with a brilliant curling strike into the far corner.

However, Inter do not give up and after a series of substitutions they pull one back in the 82nd minute through Gjeci, who finishes a cross to the far post from Owusu. The Nerazzurri push forward, and first Donato hits the crossbar with a header in the 85th minute, then in the 89th minute Owusu, again with a header, scores the equaliser that would send Inter through to the semi-finals.

In the final moments, Egharevba comes very close to scoring the winning goal with a header from a corner in the 90+5th minute, but it is Inter who find the winner on the counterattack in the 90+7th minute with Owusu, sealing the match.

These were the words of coach Fabio Moro after the match: "There is clearly a lot of disappointment in the team for how the match ended. We were good at reacting to going behind and taking a two-goal lead, but in the second part of the second half we missed something, and against a strong team like Inter you cannot afford that. At the moment there is disappointment for the match, but this cannot erase a great season from these boys, a group I am very proud of and to whom I must say thank you for the moments we shared during the year. I also want to thank all the staff who were always by my side and by the side of the boys, as well as the management and the director".

INTER-HELLAS VERONA 4-3
Goals: 20' Piva, 43', 60' Casagrande, 49' Egharevba, 82' Gjeci, 89', 90+7' Owusu

HELLAS VERONA (4-3-1-2): Raccanello; Spagnolli (88' Dogà), Falzoni, Kirali (78' Cumerlato), Berini; Zanin, Compaore, Bogoncelli (46' Tanzilli); Bisoffi (60' Samba Sy); Egharevba, Casagrande
Unused subs: Frittoli, De Pieri, Furlan, Bayoko, Zanolli
Coach: Fabio Moro

Inter (4-3-3): Galliera; Evangelista (82' Oddgerisson), Donato, Cassini, Rocca (70' Pirola); Limido (82' Salviato), Nese (43' Puricelli), Bettelli (70' Slatina); Piva (65' Cattaneo), Dade Lombardi (65' Owusu), Matarrese (43' Gjeci)
Unused subs: Llhesi
Coach: Samir Handanović

Referee: Gabriele Iorfida (AIA Collegno section)
Assistants: Giuseppe Bono (AIA Torino section), Luca Pongan (AIA Biella section)

NOTES. Yellow cards: Rocca, Compaore, Owusu, Galliera. Red card: Cassini