Over the course of today’s TMW Radio broadcast, within the program “A Tutta C,” Marco Amelia spoke. He did not discuss only the world of Serie C but, drawing on his experience as a player, was also asked about the national team, which in recent years has been struggling—so much so that for two consecutive times it has not even qualified for the World Cup.
The former Milan goalkeeper said this about the state of football development in Italy:
“We now have more and more players coming from abroad rather than youngsters rising up from our own youth sectors and bolstering the squads of our top clubs, and this is also having an impact: the coach’s choices become increasingly narrow and restrictive, and in the long run we are paying the price.
"I hope that we will again have more and more young players ready to make the leap, because if we look at what our youth national teams do in their European championships or World Cups, they always finish in the top four. And that means we do have talented players who can compete at the same age level. Perhaps what’s missing is that something extra that allows them to make the jump—that final phase, the last step, the one between Under‑17 and Under‑19—to then be ready for the first teams."
