A WEE COUNTY youngster formed part of a team that won the Bronze World Cup, hosted by the Juventus Soccer Academy.

Ryan Stojanovic, 12, is part of a training academy organised by Juventus and flew over to Turin, Italy to take part in the Academy's world cup.

Once there, he joined up with other kids from all around the world and stayed in the Olympic Village in the Susa Valley, where the 2006 Winter Olympics were held.

Ryan and his team played a series of group games – similar to the format of the real world cup – before being sorted into bronze, silver or gold categories based on group stage performance.

Lee Stojanovic accompanied her son over to Italy and watched him lift the cup and told Advertiser Sport Ryan thought it was a fantastic experience.

She said: "I thought it was a great achievement for him considering it was a group of kids he had never played with before from all over the country.

"They got along really well, they just united – it was good to experience all the teams from all over and see them play against each other.

"Ryan was dead excited to go to the Allianz Stadium. The opening and closing ceremonies of the tournament were held there and he thought it was something else just being there.

"He had a fantastic time."

Ryan, from Alva, formed part of 24 other footballers who travelled to Italy from all over Scotland to take part in the world cup.

The opening ceremony was held in the Allianz Stadium in Turin, where the kids got the chance to meet Juventus legend Claudio Marchisio.

Speaking to Advertiser Sport, Ryan said the tournament was tricky but he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

He said: "The games were pretty difficult, fast-paced but it was a lot of fun."

The Academy World Cup has been held in Turin twice before – in 2018 and 2019 – and this year's edition saw teams from across five continents meet to contest the three cups.

Paul Clelland, coach at Juventus Academy Scotland, said he was delighted with the team's performance and the impression they gave to other teams.

He said: "In the beginning, it was tough for us as we were playing against year round academies.

"We were quite competitive, we wanted to play some really good football and we had some good players in our team.

"We were voted the third most popular academy which was really cool as it was the first time we had ever been.

"The kids were all friendly, funny and curious about the kids from other countries and they made some really good friends with them all."