After the defeat against Dominican RepublicL’Italy she returned to the gym to prepare for the last and decisive challenge of group A of the Basketball World Cup, the one at Philippines, on stage tomorrow at 2pm Italian time (8pm local time, live on Rai Due, Sky Sport Summer, NOW and DAZN). On the sidelines of the morning training session, the president of the Italian Basketball Federation, Giovanni Petrucci, returned to the match against the Dominican Republic: “Our opponents deservedly won. There have been refereeing errors and always will be, but they are not the ones that made us lose the match and it is not FIBA’s responsibility”. “This morning I had a conversation with all the technical staff and I told them that excesses like those of yesterday must no longer happen. We have an image to defend and we must act accordingly. Coach Gianmarco Pozzecco enjoys the trust of the team and above all He enjoys my trust. He is an extraordinary person from many points of view and he is the first to be sorry. I have respect and affection for him and I continue to consider him an excellent coach”, added Petrucci.
“It’s not a tragedy to have lost a match and our coach is certainly not the only one responsible. We have a group of intelligent boys who have everything it takes to react to the defeat tomorrow against the Philippines”, concluded the number one of the Federbasket. To move on to the second phase of the World Cup and to be certain, at least, of a place in next year’s Pre-Olympic tournament, Italy must win tomorrow’s match. As always, the stakes are very high and to grab it the Azzurri will have to beat the Philippines in the Araneta Coliseum. The defeat against the Dominican Republic complicated things but for Italy there are several favorable scenarios: even a defeat with 11 points (not one more) if the Dominicans then beat Angola in the afternoon match.