The Under-17 National Team were training in Brasilia ahead of their World Cup opener against the Solomon Islands. The 21 players in Carmine Nunziata’s squad are in good shape but they’re having to adapt to the weather that switches between rainstorms and blazing sun in this season.

One of the players in the squad is Wilfried Degnand Gnonto, otherwise known as Willy. He’ll turn 16 on 5 November and he’s the youngest member of the Azzurrini’s squad. His father moved from the Ivory Coast 26 years ago before being joined by his mother six years later and Willy was born in Baveno in the province of Verbania where his father worked sat a textile factory and his mother worked at a hotel. He went to school there and started playing on the road outside his house. “I only wanted to play to have fun with my friends, I didn’t think that football could something I’d take so seriously,” Willy explained. They pushed me on to try.” His father is a passionate football fan and was a decent player himself and he signed Willy up for the football school in Baveno where it didn’t take long for Willy to stand out. After, he moved to a different school in Suno near Novara which had links to Inter and he joined their academy a year later following a tournament.

His life had changed at the age of nine as he would travel 120 kilometres every day to go to train with Inter. He changed school to go to Busto Arsizio with the help of his club. He’d respond by making his Under-15 debut and he scored ten goals in his first year before moving up to the Under-16s and then Under-17s just six months later. He scored 20 goals over the seasons. Although he’s not especially tall, his pace and skill help him and he’s also played at Under-18 level and made his Youth League debut against Barcelona, with the Nerazzurri winning 3-0 with Gnonto getting an assist.

In 2018, he received his first international call-up from Daniele Zoratto for the Under-16 team and he scored the first of three goals against Ukraine as Italy won on his debut. Zoratto then called him up for the Under-17 side at the 4 Nations Tournament in Germany where he scored against the hosts. The Under-17 World Cup in Brazil is the biggest international stage for him so far. “I didn’t expect it, I’m still dreaming with my eyes open. To wear the Italy shirt in such an important competition with a magnificent group fills me with pride.”

He goes back every two or three years to see family in the Ivory Coast but his dream is in Italy. “All my efforts are to make things better for my family and I feel at home here. I don’t know where football will take me but I feel this is my path to follow. But in this country, because Italy is my home.”

The Under-17 World Cup is now set to kick off at the Bezerrao Stadium with Brazil facing Canada.