If any player deserved a magical, fairytale ending – it was Cesare Casadei. But it wasn't to be. His Italy Under-20 team were beaten 1-0 against Uruguay in the U20 World Cup final at the weekend.
Seven goals and two assists in seven matches for the young Italians meant Casadei, who spent the second half of the 2022/23 season on loan at Reading from Chelsea, won the Adidas Golden Boot award. As well as this, the extremely talented 20-year-old was handed the Golden Ball award – a trophy given to the best player throughout the tournament. And nobody can argue with that.
Casadei scored three doubles throughout the competition to send the Italians all the way to the final. The Chelsea midfielder also sent England packing in the Round of 16 with an 87th-minute penalty seeing the young Azzurri progress into the next round.
