Jay Spearing was named Player of the Tournament as Liverpool finished third in the Torneo di Renate at the end of May. The annual event is for u20 sides, and Liverpool were joined in the tournament by AC Milan, Inter, Torino, Genoa and Parma amongst others. The squad was a mixture of reserves and academy players, and was coached by Gary Ablett and Hughie McAuley. Liverpool were unbeaten throughout but went out of the tournament on penalties.
The reds were drawn in a group with Torino, Milan and the hosts Renate. The opening match saw Ablett's boys beat the hosts 3-1, and they followed that up with a 3-0 win over Torino before playing out a goalless draw with Milan to top the group.
Parma were the opposition in the semi final, and the reds trailed 2-0 at half time before storming back to force extra time and penalties. Unfortunately they couldn't match the success of the first team and the youth cup side when it comes to shoot outs, and they went down 5-3. By all accounts the reds were much the better side and should have won in normal time, and they played some excellent football throughout the competiton.
Inter went on to win the tournament, with Liverpool defeating Renate 3-0 in the 3rd place playoff game.
Spearing was named the best player in the tournament following some outstanding displays in the centre of midfield, the position he impressed in towards the end of the season in the reserve side. The versatile youngster was hailed as 'good enough to play in our first team right now' by Steve Heighway after his assured displays at centre half had helped the reds retain the FA Youth Cup, and was this week informed he will be training full time with the reserves at Melwood next season.
