Azzurri party for 8000 in Livorno: Italy crushes Ukraine’s World Cup dreams

LIVORNO. One year after the last day of peace and two days after Pozzecco’s last and definitive no to Panathinaikos, the only temptation between now and June (after who knows) to give the coach the idea of ​​reinventing himself as a full-time coach part-time, Italbasket celebrates in Livorno. The second sold out, after the one in November with Spain in Pesaro, brings 8,000 spectators to the Modigliani Forum and another victory that helps boost morale and ranking. No qualification for the World Cup, the blue one had already arrived in November with the last-gasp success in Georgia.

And the evening of grace by Nico Mannion, 28 points and a career high, and by Marco Spissu, who continued the work of the virtussino in the third and fourth quarters with 21, sends Ukraine (85-75), definitively out of the World Championships scheduled from 25 August to 10 September between the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, the journey of hope in Livorno: the third and last place, after the two occupied by Spain and Italy (who will face each other on Sunday in Caceres for the last race of the group, Iceland and Georgia will compete for it.

Started with the embrace of the two teams in midfield to commemorate the anniversary of the last day without war for the Ukrainian people, the magical night in Livorno ended with Pozzecco’s general satisfaction. « For us it wasn’t a friendly, we said it the day before and my players on the pitch showed it by playing a tough, solid match. We knew how important this challenge was for Ukraine, I’m sorry for my friend Sasha Volkov but this is sport and we wanted to respect it to the fullest. We would have done the same thing with another opponent. I’m proud of my players, who repaid Livorno’s affection in the best possible way. Emotions keep you young, coming back here after 30 years, after my only season as a player, moved me».

Pozzecco also pampers the youngsters, such as Bortolani and Visconti, but he doesn’t struggle to find the only «the only sour note of such a beautiful evening» in the injury sustained by Biligha. The blue captain, who before the match had exchanged shirts and greetings with his fantasy football idol Ciccio Caputo of Empoli, suffered a sprain trauma to his right knee: today he will undergo the necessary tests and in any case he will not leave with the rest of the group from Pisa to Spain. “Paul is our captain: I really hope it’s nothing serious.” The protagonist of the blue party was, without a doubt, Nico Mannion: « In Livorno we breathed a truly extraordinary atmosphere. I’m glad I played well and improved my career high in the Maglia Azzurra but without this extraordinary group I couldn’t do anything. Pozzecco is our thirteenth man on the pitch, he gives us an incredible boost ».