Italy will play EuroBasket 2025! The Azzurri, even before facing Iceland in Reggio Emilia, obtained the European pass thanks to the victory obtained by Turkey in Hungary in the afternoon (76-81). At the PalaBigi, which was also sold-out for the occasion, the Scandinavians prevailed (74-81).
The best scorer for the Azzurri was Giampaolo Ricci with 18 points, Michele Vitali and Diego Flaccadori also in double figures with 10. Kristinn Pallson was the top scorer of the match with 22 points and 5/6 from beyond the arc.
Debut in the Senior jersey for Dame Sarr.
Coach Pozzecco’s analysis: “Our heart is divided in half: on the one hand the joy for the qualification that matured with Turkey’s success in Hungary, on the other the sadness for not having been able to repay the extraordinary welcome that the city of Reggio Emilia, the Basketball Reggiana and the PalaBigi have reserved us. Congratulations to Iceland, we knew they were an excellent team and this evening they deserved to win by playing aggressive and effective basketball: after tonight we have confirmation that we can win and lose with any team. It depends a lot on the intensity we bring to the pitch and this evening, even if it shouldn’t represent an alibi, perhaps they were hungrier than us. I thank those who contributed to our success in Iceland, tonight we presented another roster and I need to work with this group with more continuity before the European Championship, which we are very happy to play next summer.”
Nik Melli’s comment: “It was a special day for me, playing for the national team in my city was wonderful and I want to thank the PalaBigi crowd once again for the support they never failed to give us during the 40 minutes. Congratulations to Iceland who fully deserved the victory, we are happy with the qualification but there is also a lot of bitterness about this evening’s result.”
At half-time, the National Under 17 team who won the Silver Medal at the World Championship played in Istanbul last summer marched onto the pitch to receive the PalaBigi tribute.
Poz chose the quintet with Spissu, Bortolani, Vitali, Ricci and Melli but the Azzurri’s start was slow: the energy displayed by Iceland pushed the Scandinavians to a double-digit lead, on the siren of the first quarter it was came the triple from Gudmundsson (namesake of Albert, Fiorentina midfielder present on the sidelines) to establish the 9-22 with which we went to the first interval. For Italy a couple of flashes from Michele Vitali and Akele but also the 1/8 from the arc forced us to chase.
In the second quarter, in addition to the Hola from a marvelous PalaBigi, Akele once again took care of shaking up the Azzurri: his dunk made it 21-28, before Spissu’s triple from the corner and the frontal one from a very inspired Vitali (27-28 , 10-0 the partial). Iceland committed 5 fouls in less than 3 minutes and saw their percentages from the arc drop drastically (3/14 in the second quarter): Gudmundsson’s triple, however, allowed coach Pederson’s team to return to the locker room ahead (29 -32).
Nik Melli’s first basket at the start of the third quarter gave Azzurro the new lead (34-33), Ricci’s 8 points kept us ahead (41-37) but in the moment of greatest difficulty Iceland found Kristinn Palsson an unexpected and decisive protagonist: 10 points in an amen (3 triples) and a new +4 outside (44-48). Bortolani’s 6 consecutive points at the end of the third set were providential to keep us in touch.
At the start of the last quarter it was once again Palsson who scared us with the jump of the new Icelandic +8 (57-65): after the time-out called by the Azzurro technical staff, Vitali awakened the PalaBigi but Kristinn’s reply came immediately Palsson from the arc and then Thrastarson’s tap-in (60-70), before yet another triple by Kristinn Palsson which dropped us to -14 (63-77) with 3 and a half minutes to play. Ricci rekindled hopes with three consecutive shots from beyond the arc (72-78) but once again Kristinn Palsson took care of it from the line.
The match, which will be played from 27 August to 14 September in Latvia, Poland, Cyprus and Finland, will be Italy’s 39th participation in a European Championship since 1935.. Only France was better than the Azzurri with one more participation.
The Azzurri will return to the pitch in February 2025 to complete their commitments in group B of the Qualifiers. Appointment on February 20th in Türkiye and February 23rd in Italy against Hungary. Locations and times yet to be defined.
Italy-Iceland 74-81 (9-22, 20-10, 27-26, 18-22)
Italy: Spissu* 5 (1/1, 1/3), Sarr (0/1 from three), Melli* 9 (3/8, 1/4), Flaccadori 10 (2/4, 0/3), Tessitori , Ricci* 18 (1/3, 5/8), Basile 5 (1/3,1/3), Bortolani* 8 (0/5, 2/4), Caruso ne, Vitali* 10 (2/2, 2/5), Rossato 3 (0/1, 1/2), Akele 6 (3/5). All: Pozzecco.
Iceland: Steinarsson* 2 (1/1), Henningsson (0/1, 0/3), Fridriksson* 15 (2/8, 1/6), Jonsson ne, K. Palsson 22 (1/1, 5/6 ), H. Palsson* 3 (0/2 da tre), Gunnarsson, Gudmundsson* 15 (2/4, 3/9), Hlinason* 3 (1/2), Thrastarson 9 (4/7), Jonsson 5 (2/2), Bjornsson 7 (1/2, 0/2). All: Pedersen.
Two-pointers Ita 13/32, Isl 14/28; Three-pointers Ita 13/33, Isl 9/28; Free throws Ita 9/20, Isl 26/35; Rebounds Ita 41 (Melli 11), Isl 43; Assist Ita 19 (Spissu 6), Isl 18 (Fridriksson 8).
5 fouls issued: Ricci in the 40th minute.
Referees: Luis Castillo Larroca (Spain), Petar Pesic (Serbia), Ivor Matejek (Czechia)
Notes: Technical to Pozzecco in the 8th minute.
Attendance: 4,500 (Sold-out)
The other scores of the second “window” of Group B
Hungary-Türkiye 76-81 (14-21, 17-19, 23-14, 22-27)
Hungary: Pongo ne, Keller 10 (5/8, 0/1), Hanga 9 (1/3, 2/6), Vojvodina 14 (4/5, 1/5), Varadi* 2 (1/2, 0 /4), Benke* 2 (1/2, 0/2), Bognar ne, Goloman* 16 (3/6, 3/4), Lukacs 4 (2/3, 0/1), Perl* 14 (5/8, 1/3), Filipovity* 5 (0/1, 1/5). All: Okorn
Turchia: Hazer* 10 (4/10, 0/5), Saybir (0/1), Osman* 33 (5/10, 5/11), Arslan, Tunca ne, Bitim (0/1, 0/1) , Haltali (0/1), Mutaf (0/1 da tre), Osmani* 9 (3/3, 1/6), Yilmaz, Sipahi* 7 (3/5, 1/5), Yurtseven 22 (9/16, 1/2). All: Ataman
Iceland-Italy 71-95 (12-27, 13-22, 29-16, 17-30)
Iceland: Steinarsson* 9 (3/4, 1/2), Henningsson 3 (1/1 da tre), Fridriksson* 15 (3/5, 1/6), Jonsson (0/1 da tre), Palsson K. 5 (1/2, 1/3), Palsson H.* 3 (0/4 da tre), Gunnarsson 7 (1/2, 1/2), Gudmundsson* 14 (3/4, 2/9), Hlinason* 15 (4/5), Thrastarson S. (0/1), Jonsson ne, Bjornsson (0/1, 0/1). All: Pedersen
Italy: Spissu* 10 (3/6, 1/3), Moretti 6 (1/3, 1/1), Tessitori* 6 (2/5, 0/3), Basile 19 (3/6, 3/8 ), Bortolani* 15 (5/7, 1/5), Vitali* 10 (2/2, 2/2), Rossato 7 (1/2, 1/2), Poser 4 (1/1), Severini* (0/1, 0/1), Alviti 5 (2/2, 0/1), Akele 13 (4/9, 1/2). All: Pozzecco
Two-pointers ISL 15/24, Ita 24/44; Three-pointers ISL 7/29, Ita 10/28; Free throws ISL 20/26, Ita 17/19. Rebounds Isl 30 (8 Hlinason), Ita 43 (10 Akele). Assist Isl 15 (4 Fridriksson, Gudmundsson), Ita 20 (8 Spissu).
5 fouls issued: None
Referees: Boris Krejic (Slovenia), Dariusz Zapolski (Polonia), Josip Jurcevic (Croazia)
Spectators: 2,000
Türkiye-Hungary 92-66 (27-20, 16-17, 19-12, 30-17)
Turchia: Hazer* 25 (7/11, 1/3), Saybir 2 (1/3, 0/1), Osman* 21 (5/7, 3/10), Arslan (0/1 da tre), Tunca 2, Haltali* 8 (4/7), Mutaf 7 (1/2, 1/3), Osmani* 17 (5/8, 2/3), Yasar (0/2), Yilmaz, Sipahi* 10 (1/3, 2/4), Koksal. All: Ataman
Hungary: Pongo (0/1), Keller 4 (1/2, 0/1), Hanga 3 (0/1, 1/4), Vojvodina 9 (4/6, 0/3), Varadi* (0/ 1 to three), Benke* 8 (1/2, 2/4), Bognar ne, Goloman* 11 (3/6), Lukacs ne, Perl* 16 (8/12, 0/1), Filipovity 5 (1/2, 1/5), Reuvers* 10 (4/7, 0/2). All: Okorn
