Europeans, Italbasket overwhelms Great Britain but in the second round there is Serbia

MILAN – Pirro’s victory at the European Basketball Championships for Gianmarco Pozzecco’s Italywhich overwhelms Great Britain 90-56 in the last match of the group stage, but which still remains fourth in the standings after Croatia’s victory over Ukraine and that in the round of 16 they will face the very favorite Serbia, which in the afternoon had annihilated Poland.

Minute of silence for Queen Elizabeth II

After the minute of silence in homage to Queen Elizabeth who disappeared in the afternoon, Italy overwhelms Great Britain on the last day of Group C and in the round of 16 of the European Championship he will challenge Serbia in Berlin, who did not discount Poland and ended Group D in first place. Platonic result that of the blues: Croatia’s afternoon result against Ukraine had already determined the positions of Assago’s group, with a fourth place which greatly complicates the path of the Europeans. “We will miss our audience – meanwhile, highlights Melli, awarded for 100 appearances in the national team –. We have to be honest: we missed a match and qualify in the worst possible position. They are favorites but we will try to give our best “.

Great cheering and the classic “perfect” match

Italy – which counts on the support of special guests such as Matteo Berrettini, Danilo Gallinari and Antonio Albanese – takes little time to set the record straight: 10-0 to start the match. Great Britain, who play without mourning because they have not been able to find black bands to put on the shirt, calls a time-out, the coach invites his boys to “compete” against a stronger team and the reaction of pride is vehement: the 12-2 immediately that Pozzecco doesn’t like much, who raises his voice and asks for more aggression to rebound. The Azzurri shake off with the second lines and, taking advantage of the revisable opposing defense and return to +9 (29-20), but the game continues to go in tears with breaks and counter-breaks that look more like tennis than basketball. The guests return to -3 (32-35) but Melli (11) and Fontecchio (18) have other ideas and the advantage returns in double figures (47-37) at the interval. From then on the race is one-way, with Great Britain scoring just 2 points in the last quarter: Italy expands the rotations – space for Baldasso, Biligha and Tessitori -, finds the triple of Datome (13) and digs an unbridgeable furrow. With his head already against Serbia.