Pietà Hotspurs FC are renowned for their investment in youth football and the importance they attach to this crucial sector that grooms youngsters into fine players for the future.
Nursery teams from Pietà have been winning trophies and tournaments on a regular basis in the past two decades or so, both at home and abroad.
Earlier this month, another side representing the Hotspurs nursery – the Under-10 – further enriched the club’s annals after winning their category at the DelaCarlia Football Festival which was played in rainy Borlange, Sweden.
The team, coached by Noel McKay and Sandro Ciantar, not only topped their group during the competition but also attracted the attention of those present after sweeping past all their opponents, scoring 50 goals in seven matches and conceding just three.
Apart from teams from Sweden and Norway, the DelaCarlia Cup also featured the participation of teams from Spain, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil.
The Pietà boys were something of an unknown quantity going into the tournament but stole the show as their achievements featured prominently in the Swedish media, including a front-page Dala-Demokraten interview with the Hotspurs captain – Miguel Micallef – and coach Ciantar.
Micallef, who has just secured a two-year contract with Spanish club Villarreal, was among the prota-gonists at the tournament in Bor-lange with several scouts repre-senting high-profile clubs keen to discover new talent.
In his comments to Dala-Demokraten, Micallef spoke of his experience playing on a muddy turf pitch for the first time and his future adventure in Spain where he hopes to see more of his favourite player, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Pietà will be celebrating the Under-10 team’s success with a reception at their club on Monday where mementoes will be presented to the technical staff and players who won the Under-10 DelaCarlia Football Festival for the first time.
In Borlange, the Pietà nursery fielded five teams in two other categories, U-11 and U-12.
The two Under-11 teams finished top of their respective groups, one selection (Oranges) winning all seven matches, and the other (Blues) losing just one.
The Under-12 team were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
In the group phase, Pieta U-12 won against one of the tournament favourites, beating the team from Brazil 2-1.
The Hotspurs contingent, made up of 82 people, was lead by nur-sery chairman Frankie Ciantar and head coach Michael Farrugia.