Pozzecco on Italy-USA: “The match, Melli, Petrucci, the United States”

At 14.40 the challenge to the American squadron, the coach: “The certainty is that the national team has a future, many interesting guys are eagerly chasing after them”

From our correspondent Davide Romani

Gianmarco Pozzecco was there as a player in the quarterfinals of the 1998 World Cup lost to the United States. He was the protagonist in the friendly that Italy won in 2004 before the Athens Games. And today (2.40 pm) he will be on the sidelines in what appears to be a foregone conclusion: Italy-USA.

Pozzecco, as a party crasher, how can you not get thrown out of the club?

“We’ve all been caught already but the important thing was to get in. Now let’s dance and continue having fun. When you’re crashed at a party you have two options: either you stay in a corner and go unnoticed but that’s not our case, or you try to do something “I could have set a minimum goal to reach so as to have a parachute in the event of an unimportant result. But this does not help the team grow. My players must not feel inferior to anyone. I endorse a sentence from the lawyer Agnelli”.

“‘Arrogance means feeling superior to others. Self-esteem means not feeling inferior to anyone’. We managed to have a balance on this concept. We raised the bar and managed to beat Serbia, a match that consecrated us. It was a bit unusual because in Italy we are sensationally good at considering ourselves underdog, underdogs. My boys didn’t accept that this could happen.”

In 2004, Italy beat the United States in a friendly before the Games. She was on the court and drove the NBA champions crazy. How is the US fighting?

“That was a friendly match, you can’t compare it with the match that awaits us. In Cologne, the USA were surprised by a gang of cranks. But there is a common denominator between this and that Italy: two groups that in any case play the game and they will do everything to do it. But today the difficulties a team encounters are different. Compared to the 2004 Games, where we reached the quarter-finals beating New Zealand and China, the level is more complex. To beat the USA you have to exploit the surprise effect. Which won’t happen because they’re returning from a defeat and with us it will be an inside-out match. But I stick to my idea: my boys can win against everyone.”

What do you like about these first two seasons in the national team?

“The environment where everyone is rowing on the same side, giving everything. We look like the Abbagnales all sweaty after a match. The president does it, the players follow him and the warehouseman does it. Everyone”.

Are you aware that in addition to this important result you are building something important for the future?

“Absolutely. There is a present that has given people the opportunity to get excited and live a dream. Then we passed on the certainty that this team has a future with many interesting players who are eager to keep up with these twelve. The national team is experiencing something no one expected. What we are doing is something tangibly concrete. It took more than necessary to make it understood but now I am convinced that everyone has understood the thickness of these guys”.

“Melli is the closest thing to Dino Meneghin I’ve ever seen on a basketball court. I remember the first time I was lucky enough to play against Dino in an Udine-Trieste match. I had the perception that no one could score against him “, we all suffered from psychological subjection. With Nicolò it’s the same: for what he does on and off the pitch it’s a factor. His teammates, the referees, the fans perceive it”.

As the days go by in this World Cup we see her more at ease.

“I don’t know. There’s one thing I will never change: whatever injustice one of my players suffers, I will experience it with a sense of responsibility. A belief that matured when I was coaching my “little brother” Mancinelli’s Fortitudo Bologna (in 2018, ed.). During a match Mancio suffers a couple of fouls that are not called. He turns towards the bench and says angrily: “You’re not protecting me”. He hurt me terribly but he was right”.

He is living his blue experience with a lot of enthusiasm. But if Italy were a beautiful woman like you would you describe it?

“As my wife, one thing only. I want the national team that I love. Tania is the person I chose, with whom I fell in love. And I did the same with the Azzurri: I chose them. I live with her and my daughter that that I want to live with my players. My wife is the best woman in the world and the same goes for my players.”

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