Inter's U23 season ended with more than one regret for missing out on the playoffs but the Nerazzurri's break with ranks turned into a finale with a different flavour. In Solomeo, in the prestigious Harmony Trophy dedicated to the second Italian teams, Stefano Vecchi's team closed by raising the trophy and sending interesting signals about the present and future of the project. Two narrow victories, the first derby between the second Milanese teams and some important indications that go beyond the final result.
La semifinale con l'Atalanta e il trionfo contro il Milan Futuro
Inter Under 23 did not win the Harmony Trophy through goleade or who knows what territorial dominance, on the contrary, showing that concreteness that paradoxically had been missing in various moments of the second part of the season. In the semi-final against Atalanta, reigning double champions of the tournament, the Milanese Nerazzurri were able to suffer and strike at the right time. Antonio David's goal decided the match, with the full-back doing well to realize practically the only truly great opportunity created by Inter, also favored by Topalovic's work with his back to goal. Paolo Raimondi did the rest, author of a very high level performance with at least three decisive interventions against a much more continuous Goddess in the last thirty metres.
The first U23 derby in history against Milan Futuro then reached the final, a curious match also due to the different fate of the two local teams in their first professional experience. On one side the Rossoneri who were relegated to Serie D last year, on the other an Inter who, despite ups and downs, have maintained a certain solidity in Serie C. The match was decided by Alexiou's goal, another protagonist of a season in constant growth. Two games won 1-0, two different ways of interpreting them but a common feeling: that of a team that was able to end the year leaving a different impression compared to the last few championship outings.
I giovani e la filosofia del progetto: "Dimarco è l’esempio", parola di mister Vecchi
The tournament also offered the opportunity to look beyond. In the final, in fact, Stefano Vecchi gave space from the first minute to Roberts Apsits, a Latvian goalkeeper born in 2006 fresh from a positive season in Serie D with Virtus Francavilla. A signal that speaks well of the philosophy of the Under 23 team: not only valorising those who are already part of the project but continuing to observe, test and invest in young profiles potentially functional to the Nerazzurri's future.
At the end of the tournament, Vecchi himself outlined a very lucid assessment of the season: "I consider the experience positive", without hiding his regrets about the missed playoffs. The coach underlined how the team has fully achieved its main objective, maintaining the category and valorising the young players, remembering however that based on what we saw during the year "there are some regrets, we had the values to definitely arrive in the top 10".
However, perhaps the most interesting passage concerns the long-term vision of the project. The coach indicated Federico Dimarco as the ideal symbol of a young person's growth path: "Inter's youth sector has always been full of talent. You don't necessarily go directly from spring or Under 23 to the first team, sometimes you need a slightly longer path." A concept that perfectly summarizes the essence of this new Nerazzurri reality. Winning a summer trophy is certainly a pleasure but the objective remains to build players rather than results. And in Solomeo, after all, Inter gave the feeling of having this concept very clear.