Juventus F.C. Youth Sector - History

History

Despite an extensive international scouting network, the club has historically placed importance on nurturing local talent and continues to do so. One proof of this is the fact of the Italian national team, coached by Enzo Bearzot during the mid-1970’s and mid-1980’s, was mainly composed of young Juventus players -nicknamed the Blocco-Juve ("Juve-Block"), the backbone of the Italian squad - like Roberto Bettega, Giuseppe Furino - two of the five Juventus players with most appearances and also two of the Italian footballers to have won more scudetti- and Paolo Rossi, Adidas Golden Shoe, Adidas Golden Ball and world champion in 1982 and European Footballer of the Year in the same year; them all former members at the Juventus youth program.

In more recent times, the Youth Sector has developed talented players such as Antonio Nocerino, Sebastian Giovinco, Antonio Mirante, Matteo Paro and Lorenzo Ariaudo, all of whom are playing or have played for top flight clubs, as well as current first team players and members of the 2011-12 Scudetto-winning team Claudio Marchisio, Paolo De Ceglie and Luca Marrone. All were former youth internationals and Nocerino, Marchisio and Giovinco have been capped at the senior level.