A beautiful Italy loses by 4 with Serbia. Pozzecco: “I’m happy”

A beautiful Italy is defeated by a whisker from the end of the match against Serbia (86-90) in the first semifinal of the Supercup in Hamburg. If the defeat against France in Montpellier had marked a step backwards as mentioned by the coach Pozzecco, the defeat against the Serbs instead marks a clear improvement on the way to the official matches in late August and early September. Italy, without Gallinari (sprained trauma to the right ankle) and Amedeo Della Valle (rotation) starts strong immediately, dictates the pace, scores a lot, defends but is forced to suffer the return, in the last minute of the game, of an extremely long and extremely talented formation, certainly a candidate for the title of European champion. A defeat that burns for how it has matured but which can only be a stimulus for the Azzurri, who in just 5 days will be called to win against Ukraine in Riga to mortgage their qualification for the 2023 World Cup.

poz satisfied

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“The thing that matters to me is how the lads take to the pitch and how they emotionally experience the match. Today we were intense and it is the only thing that has an absolute value – commented the Italian coach Gianmarco Pozzecco -. I want to see players who are able to express their skills and to do so they must have tranquility, awareness, trust and confidence. The same is true at the team level: it is the basis of my work. a team with difficult management like Serbia is the right one even considering the tiredness. Overall I am happy. We hope to quickly recover Gallinari and some other players who are still a little behind. We have a great staff and we must continue to work together “.