The draw has been made for the Last 16. Ties will all be played on Tuesday February 14 with the Quarter-Finals on Thursday, Semi-Finals on Saturday and the Final on Monday, February 20.

15:00

Atalanta - Roma

Juventus - Vicenza

Sampdoria - Club Guarani

Fiorentina - Empoli

Parma - Inter

Serie D Representative XI - Pumas

Lazio - FC Nordsjælland

17,15

Genoa - Torino

The 64th annual Viareggio Cup got underway with the traditional opening message read out by Gubbio defender Simone Farina, an outstanding role model for the young players taking part thanks to his refusal of the betting syndicates advances last year. As ever, the Coppa Carnivale kicked off with the defending champions and, somewhat surprisingly, Inter were held to a 1-1 draw by Belgian side Anderlecht.

Elsewhere in Group A there were lots of goals, not least in La Spezia where Juventus took Danish side FC Nordsjælland apart 6-1 that included a debut strike from former Ajax starlet Ouasim Buoy and a double from Stefano Padovan who stole an early march in the top scorers charts, a prize he must be among the favourites for, given his recent prowess in the Campionato Primavera.

Day One results: Inter 1-1 Anderlecht, Siena 0-0 Reggina, Atalanta 1-0 Juventude, Aspire Qatar 5-1 Esperia Viareggio, Genoa 1-0 Montevideo Wanderers,L.I.A.C. New York 0-2 Poggibonsi, Juventus 6-1 FC Nordsjælland, Empoli 3-0 Honved Budapest, Pakhtakor 3-3Arzanese,Sampdoria 3-0 Dukla Prague, Pumas P-P Spezia

Juventus Captain Alberto Libertazzi looks forward to his third Viareggio Cup

Juventus, Viareggio Cup winners 1994

Italian state broadcaster RAI have announced the games they will be screening live from the tournaments opening round. Here is a full list, all kick-off times CET;

Monday February 6

Inter-Anderlecht (15.00) Juventus-Nordsjaelland (17.15) 

Tuesday February 7

Roma-Club Nacional (15.00) Milan-Gremio Osasco (17.15)
   
Wednesday February 8

Juventus-A.P.I.A. Leichhardt (15.00) Empoli-Pakhtakor (17.15)

Thursday February 9

Palermo-Lazio (15.00) Roma-Santos Laguna (17.15)

Friday February 10

Inter-Reggina (15.00) Sampdoria-Spezia (17.15)

Saturday February 11

Fiorentina-Vicenza (15.00) Napoli-Rappresentativa Serie D (17.15)

The knockout round will be screened in its entirety, dates and kick off times will be published once the qualified teams are known.

AS Roma, Viareggio Cup winners 1981

The full fixture list for the Group stage of this years tournament have been announced. Here they are in chronological order;

Monday February 6

15:00 INTER-ANDERLECHT, SIENA-REGGINA, ATALANTA-JUVENTUDE, ASPIRE QATAR-ESPERIA VIAREGGIO, GENOA-MONTEVIDEO WANDERERS, L.I.A.C. NEW YORK-POGGIBONSI, A.P.I.A. LEICHHARDT-CITTA’ DI MARINO, EMPOLI-HONVED BUDAPEST, PAKHTAKOR-ARZANESE, SAMPDORIA-DUKLA PRAGA

17:15 JUVENTUS-NORDSJAELLAND

20:30 PUMAS-SPEZIA

Tuesday February 7

15:00 TORINO-OLE’ BRASIL, SPARTAK MOSCOW-SAMBENEDETTESE, FIORENTINA-STABAEK, CESENA-VICENZA, PARMA-MODENA, ROMA-CLUB NACIONAL, SANTOS LAGUNA-VIRTUS ENTELLA, PALERMO-CLUB GUARANI’, LAZIO-SASSUOLO, NAPOLI-BRUGES, VARESE-RAPPRESENTATIVA SERIE D

17:15 MILAN-GREMIO OSASCO 

Wednesday February 8

15:00 INTER-SIENA, ANDERLECHT-REGGINA, ATALANTA-ASPIRE QATAR, JUVENTUDE-ESPERIA VIAREGGIO, GENOA-L.I.A.C. NEW YORK, MONTEVIDEO WANDERERS-POGGIBONSI, JUVENTUS-A.P.I.A. LEICHHARDT, NORDSJAELLAND-CITTA’ DI MARINO, HONVED BUDAPEST-ARZANESE, SAMPDORIA-PUMAS

17:15 EMPOLI-PAKHTAKOR

20:30 DUKLA PRAGA-SPEZIA

Thursday February 9

15:00 TORINO-SPARTAK MOSCOW, OLE’ BRASIL-SAMBENEDETTESE, FIORENTINA-CESENA, STABAEK-VICENZA, MILAN-PARMA, GREMIO OSASCO-MODENA, CLUB NACIONAL-VIRTUS ENTELLA, PALERMO-LAZIO, CLUB GUARANI’-SASSUOLO, NAPOLI-VARESE, BRUGES-RAPPRESENTATIVA SERIE D

17:15 ROMA-SANTOS LAGUNA

Friday February 10

15:00 INTER-REGGINA, ANDERLECHT-SIENA, ATALANTA-ESPERIA VIAREGGIO, JUVENTUDE-ASPIRE QATAR, GENOA-POGGIBONSI, MONTEVIDEO WANDERERS-L.I.A.C. NEW YORK, JUVENTUS-CITTA’ DI MARINO, NORDSJAELLAND-A.P.I.A. LEICHHARDT, EMPOLI-ARZANESE, HONVED BUDAPEST-PAKHTAKOR, DUKLA PRAGA-PUMAS

17:15 SAMPDORIA-SPEZIA

Saturday February 11

15:00 TORINO-SAMBENEDETTESE, OLE’ BRASIL-SPARTAK MOSCOW, FIORENTINA-VICENZA, STABAEK-CESENA, MILAN-MODENA, GREMIO OSASCO-PARMA, ROMA-VIRTUS ENTELLA, CLUB NACIONAL-SANTOS LAGUNA, PALERMO-SASSUOLO, CLUB GUARANI’-LAZIO, BRUGES-VARESE

17:15 NAPOLI-RAPPRESENTATIVA SERIE D

There will then be two rest days before the first knockout round begins on Tuesday February 14

Juventus, Viareggio 2005 winners

Back (l-r): Alberto Balagna, Rey Volpato, Paolo De Ceglie, Andrea Masiello, Simone Bentivoglio, Nicola Avitabile
Front (l-r): Davide Arigò, Claudio Marchisio, Andrea Rossi, Stefano Dicuonzo, Gerardo Clemente

[Picture via @MarthaCalcio]

Gaetano Scirea, Atalanta Captain at Viareggio 1971

Here is the first part of a short series looking at the history of the Viareggio Cup. Since its inauguration in 1949 the competition has played host to some of World football’s biggest names and was almost immediately an international success with Partizan Belgrade the first non-Italian winner as early as 1951. But it was during the second decade of its existence that it truly began to thrive, thrusting some of the biggest Italian - and indeed European - names into the general conscience.

The sixties began with success for Milan who by the time of their 1960 win had already recorded six of their eight victories at the tournament. In contrast Juventus, just behind the Rossoneri on seven all-time triumphs, would secure their first win in 1961. Throughout the following years there would be appearances from some true legends of the game; Dino Zoff featured for Udinese, Inter’s Giacinto Facchetti, Sandro Mazzola and Roberto Boninsegna as well as German goalkeeper Sepp Maier would all take part in an ever-growing showcase for young players.

The ‘60’s Viareggio also saw the first televised final stages - starting in 1963 - and a win via drawn lots for Genoa while Fiorentina would secure four victories in the following decade thanks to a great generation of players led by the iconic Giancarlo Antognoni. Alongside the Viola’s success were a string of victories for Dukla Prague (sadly often wearing their home kit) who, with six wins, are the most successful foreign side in the competitions history. Due to these two clubs domination a whole generation of Inter greats would win less than they might expect with a team containing Beppe Baresi, Walter Zenga and Gabriele Oriali. 

But the Nerazzurri were far from the only star-studded team not to win, as a Roma team containing Bruno Conti and Agostino Di Bartolomei and the Milan of Franco Baresi and Fulvio Collovati also left empty-handed. Gaetano Scirea would also take to the field in the colours of Atalanta, yet another legend to cut his teeth at Viareggio. Join us tomorrow for a look at the names who graced the tournament in the eighties and nineties.