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IBA21 World Cup, the numbers of the Azzurri

On Wednesday 28 September, the Italian national basketball team with Down syndrome will leave for Funchal, the capital of the autonomous region of Madeira. On the Portuguese island, the coaches called up Giuliano Bufacchi (read here) will face the third IBA21 World Championship. The history of the event has so far seen Italy as the absolute protagonist, with the Azzurri able to win both editions (2018 and 2019).
In both cases it was a duel in the final between Azzurri and Portugal, who have always faced the World Cup as the organizing national team. In 2018, in Madeira, the Azzurri won with the score of 22-13while in 2019 in Guimarães, the result was 36-22with Paulis leading thanks to his 28 points (Venuti 4, Greco and Spiga 2).
This edition will be very different from the previous ones, first of all for a wider audience of participants. If it is true that Turkey will be missing, which Italy beat in 2021 by winning the European title, there are the first appearances of Saudi Arabia, Finland, Mexico e Hungary. Another point of discontinuity is represented by the formula: from the 3vs3 of the first two World Championships we pass to the 4vs4, introduced at the Euro TriGames 2021.
STATS – Italy comes to Funchal with 8 matches played in the previous World Cups, in which they collected 7 wins and one defeat (18-21 against Portugal A, in the debut match of the 2018 edition). The Azzurri scored 235 points, conceding 104.
CALENDAR – The Azzurri will have the honor of playing the inaugural match that will see our national team play against Hungary. Against the Magyar selection, the duo ball is scheduled for Friday 30 September at 16:30 local time. The second match against Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, will take place on Saturday 1 October at 9:30 am. On the same day, in the afternoon, the semifinals start, with an eye always oriented towards the final on Sunday 2 October.

ROSTER
Alex Cesar
Alessandro Greco
Francesco Leocata
David Paulis
Lorenzo Puliga
Andrea Rebichini
Fabio Tomao
Chiara Vingione
TECHNICAL STAFF
Giuliano Bufacchi
Francesca D’Erasmo
Mauro Dessì

Complete program