Academy: six call-ups for Samp, Prelec and Yavi Mpie to Euro U17

National team set-ups have their attention squarely fixed on Sampdoria. Six of the youngsters from the Samp Academy have answered the call of their respective national teams.

Morocco: Primavera midfielder Yassin Ejjaki is already back from his stint with Morocco playing in the first round of the Africa Cup of Nations Under 20. Morocco was beaten by Mauritania, who took the first leg 2-0 before going through with a 1-0 loss in the return leg.

Hungary: Gergely Hutvagner was summoned to represent Hungary U18s in their friendly at Abano Terme against Italy. The goalkeeper played the full match for his side, a 1-0 defeat.

Italy: Simone Trimboli was called upon twice by the Azzurri, in a double-headed clash against France. His Italy U16 side won 3-0 at Rezzatto against their French counterparts, and were able to repeat their success in the second match, winning 2-1.

Albania: Armelo Doda helped ensure his nation’s victory in the UEFA Development Tournament, held in San Marino. Albania U16 topped their group with 8 points, beating Armenia (2-0) and San Marino (3-1) in 90 minutes, before needing to go all the way to penalties (4-3) to put Italy away.

Euro Under 17: The Sampdoria youth set-up received some more important news recently: Nik Prelec (Slovenia) and Jamie Yayi Mpie (Belgium) have both been named to represent their nations at the UEFA Under 17 Final Round Championship, the European championship for their age-category, to be held in England from 4 to 20 May 2018.