And it was victory. Coach Sacchetti’s Italy takes revenge against Iceland by winning 95-87 at the end of a pleasant and well-played game. Tonight’s victory in Group H of qualifying for the FIBA World Cup 2023 thus straightens the ranking of the Azzurri who, with the goal difference in favor of the Icelanders (Hafnarfjordur’s -2 overturned), they are now second in the standings. The other race of the group between the Netherlands and Russia has been postponed. The qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup will return next July with the third and final “window” of the First Phase.
The best blue scorer was Amedeo Della Valle with 26 points. In double figures also Michele Vitali (17 points) and Nico Mannion (16 points). Per Meo Sacchetti this one from PalaDozza was the number 50 bench in the national team. “We played better than in Iceland – said the coach Sacchetti in the post-match – even if in the first quarter the dross of Hafnarfjordur’s knockout was still visible. As the minutes went by we melted both in attack and in defense and the quality of ours. The game has improved, everyone has been important Tonut’s injury was a heavy problem but the reaction has been seen even if we still have to work hard to improve. A huge thank you to the Bologna audiencewe felt so much heat around us “.
A minute’s silence was observed before the match in memory of the victims of the conflict in Ukraine: as a sign of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, the Azzurri wore a white shirt. During the long interval, emotion for the ceremony that induced the journalist Franco Lauro, who died in April 2020, into the Italy Basket Hall of Fame. The FIP president Giovanni Petrucci presented the highest honor of the FIP, assigned to those who have worked particularly hard for the diffusion and growth of Italian basketball. Many personalities in the parterre of the historic Bolognese stadium: the coach of the national football team also supported the Azzurri Roberto Manciniwho had met Meo Sacchetti’s team this morning.
