Kolkata: It was just this Friday that the Indian U-17 World Cup team recorded a stunning 2-0 victory over the Italian U-17 side during an exhibition match in Arezzo, Italy. The football fans in India were quite justifiably, ecstatic on hearing this news and many including the All India Football Federation (AIFF) deemed this to be the beginning of a new era in Indian football.
But a fact that would indeed dampen the celebrations is that the team which the defeated by a 2-0 margin was not the Italian U-17 team but the Italy Lega Pro U-17 Representative, which is made up of young players from clubs in Lega Pro and Lega Pro 2, the bodoes that govern Italian football at the third and fourth tier levels.
As a matter of fact, the Lega Pro official website as well as the websites of the Lega Pro clubs Parma and Albinoleffe, had stories on the match and had showed that a representative side of the league coached by Daniele Arrigoni was playing India.
The AIFF’s take on this issue
The AIFF on the other hand was unaware of the confusion and went on to praise this win and describe it as ‘brand new chapter in the Indian football history’ and ‘a historic moment for Indian football.’
There was however no mention of the match in the official website of the Italian football federation ( FIGC).
The Hindustan Times got in touch with Italian football journalist Emanuele Giulianelli, who was genuinely surprised when he heard and saw reports of the Indian U-17 team beating the Italian U-17 side.
He said, “It is very strange because there is nothing about this match in the Italian media…This team that played India U-17 is the Lega Pro national representative, and not the Italy U-17 national team.”
The AIFF wasn’t however available for any comments on this issue.
India’s next match would be against a Lega Pro Representative Side named Albinoleffe, on May 23 according to the third-tier team’s official website.
It remains to be seen as to whether the AIFF corrects itself and comments appropriately by knowing the facts properly.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)