A solitary second-half goal handing United a 1-0 win in the final of the Torneo di Calcio Memorial Claudio Sassi… hmm, where have we heard that before? Ok, Bologna were the opposition this time around and it was John Cofie rather than Ryan Tunnicliffe with the decisive strike, but there was a definite sense of deja vu in Maranello yesterday as the Reds retained the Memorial Sassi.
Bologna proved stubborn opponents in the final, the game being played mostly in the half of the rossoblù but genuine chances proving hard to come by for the reigning champions. Indeed, the best opportunity of the first half probably fell to Bologna, with striker Polini firing over when well placed. The vital breakthrough did eventually come for United fifteen minutes into the second-half however, Cofie rising highest to head home Paul Pogba’s right-wing cross. Conor Devlin was called upon to make a vital late intervention, but the Reds held on to win the final and the 20th Memorial Sassi tournament, a deserved second consecutive triumph in the peninsula for Paul McGuinness’ side.
The Reds got their title defence off to a slow start, slipping to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Danish side OB Odense in their opening match on Friday evening, but soon got things back on track with resounding wins over co-host side Modena and local amateur side Virtus Castelfranco by four and five goals to nil respectively, securing second place in their group behind the unbeaten Danes. The other co-hosts U.S. Sassuolo were United’s semi-final opponents on Sunday evening, and just as they had in last year’s group stage, the Reds ran out 2-1 winners, securing their place in the final against the Odense-conquering Bologna.
McGuinness fielded a starting XI of Devlin, Reece Brown, Joe Dudgeon, Tom Thorpe, Scott Wootton, Pogba, Etzaz Hussain, Oliver Norwood, Cameron Stewart, Will Keane and Cofie in the final, six of whom ultimately picked up their second Memorial Sassi winners’ medals. One of those, Wootton, received the trophy from a presentation party that included the Italian international forward Luca Toni, and United added more silverware to the Old Trafford trophy cabinet, following up their defence of the Northern Ireland Milk Cup last July.
Unfortunately the official tournament site has been a little scarce with details on lineups and scorers for the Reds’ other games. We’ll try to fill in some of those gaps over the next few days, but keep an eye out for an MUTV review of the tournament at some point over the next couple of weeks, which should help to put some flesh on the bones for stats fans.
Full Squad
1. Conor Devlin
2. Reece Brown
3. Zeki Fryers
4. Michele Fornasier
5. Tom Thorpe
6. Scott Wootton
7. Cameron Stewart
8. Oliver Norwood
9. John Cofie
10. Joe Dudgeon
11. Nicky Ajose
12. Larnell Cole
13. Sam Johnstone
14. Jesse Lingard
15. Sean McGinty
16. Paul Pogba
17. Etzaz Hussain
18. Will Keane
Results
Group stage
2/4/10: United 0-1 OB Odense
3/4/10: United 4-0 Modena
4/4/10: United 5-0 Virtus Castelfranco
Semi-final
4/4/10: United 2-1 US Sassuolo
Final
5/4/10: United 1-0 Bologna
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