Tottenham sign Australian youngster Giancarlo Gallifuoco

Spurs signed the former Roos under-16 talent just as he left Europe to play non-league football in Australia following an impressive winter trial in London

2 Feb 2012 16:51:00

By Nathan Lowe

More On :  Tottenham
Harry Redknapp, tottenham flag
Mahmoud maher
Tottenham have signed former Australia under-16 international Giancarlo Gallifuoco.

The 18-year-old joins Spurs on a two-and-a-half-year deal after impressing the club during a December trial.
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The midfielder had been playing non-league football in his homeland after ending his involvement in the Australian national setup to trial in Europe.

"It's a dream come true for me," he told World Game.

"I'm thrilled and I have not stopped pinching myself since Spurs offered me a contract.

"I was once told at the AIS [Australian Institute of Sport] that I was not good enough and here I am on the books of one of the world's greatest clubs training with some of my heroes.

"I would like to thank ... my junior coach John and above all my father Salvatore for all he's done for me and without whom I would not be where I am today."

The midfielder indicated that his new club may look to move him from his natural role into a defensive berth.

"Spurs said they see me as a central defender or holding midfielder," he said.

"We are the reserves side so we have to be ready to step into the first team whenever we are needed."

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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

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20:06 BST
So, that game gave a few players a chance to impress for England. Who did/didn't? Will Welbeck start against France? Or Carroll? Or Defoe?!

19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
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