Women: Under-16 test held yesterday in Tirrenia

On the road to the Development Tournament scheduled for May, the Women’s Under-16 National Team travelled to Tirrenia for the now customary friendly against Italy’s Calcio +15 Selection. The match was played over three periods, all of them rich in useful insights for head coach Luca Righi, who was able to see the nineteen selected players in action in what was, in every respect, an international context. Many of them were younger than the average age of their Italian opponents. Unfortunately, Alice Cecchetti’s match lasted only 21 minutes: she suffered a serious wrist injury in the first period and was forced to leave the pitch. Overall, as might easily have been expected given the broader pool from which the Italian national teams can draw, the Azzurrine displayed a clear advantage in terms of experience, tempo and physicality, and indeed won all three periods, keeping a clean sheet while scoring progressively fewer goals as the final whistle approached. This underlined how, despite the obvious difficulties, the very young Titane grew in resilience over the long haul. This, too, was noted down in the notebook of the San Marino head coach, who was on the whole satisfied with the experience in Pisa: “From a philosophical standpoint, our aim is to use these experiences to understand where we need to improve. Testing ourselves against top-level sides gives us clear indications of which technical, tactical and mental aspects we must work on, and helps us understand how to target our work over the coming months. It is a tough step, but it is part of a growth pathway. Looking at the three periods of play, the margin of defeat became gradually smaller. This does not change the final scoreline (19-0, ed.), but it tells the story of a team that tried to reorganise itself, to stay in the game and to keep competing despite the difficulties. Those who came on during the match also made their contribution, showing the right attitude and never shying away. This is what makes me particularly pleased in a match that we could reasonably expect to be very demanding from both a physical and technical perspective.”