Italy’s head coach, Gianmarco Pozzecco, spoke after the quarterfinal match against USA at the FIBA World Cup.
Pozzecco vividly described how his players felt after a convincing defeat to the USA, leading to their elimination from the tournament. Before addressing the situation, he comforted a tearful Nicolo Melli.
“There’s a bird that can’t fly, but it doesn’t know that, so it flies. My players are the same. They weren’t supposed to be here, but they made it to the top eight. Melli’s reaction means everything to me. There’s nothing more to add.
You understand the mentality we’ve shown. We can’t fly, but they didn’t know that and succeeded. That’s fantastic. They didn’t deserve to play against the USA, as we were first in our group. That’s sports. I love all my players. Now, I respect them even more,” Gianmarco Pozzecco added.
Italy finished the second phase as the group leaders, even beating Serbia, and it seemed like they would face an easier opponent in the quarterfinals. That was until Lithuania surprised the USA, sending them to face Italy. Lithuania, in turn, did not advance among the top four teams, as they were defeated by Serbia.
The Americans await the winner of the Germany-Latvia matchup in the semifinals.