The Trento meeting began today, with the arrival of the Azzurri called up by Technical Commissioner Gianmarco Pozzecco, which will end on Thursday 13 June and which from the following day will leave room for the Training Camp in Folgaria (14/21 June).
Saliou Niang was allowed to leave the national team meeting. There are 17 athletes available to the CT.
“We are more than happy to begin this adventure – said Pozzecco – and as always we will give everything because the Olympic Games are the highest goal imaginable. From today we will train with commitment and enthusiasm along the different stages of preparation, also involving young and promising kids. The support of our fans will be decisive and I hope that there will be a full house in Folgaria from 14 to 21 June and in Trento for the match on 23 June.”
To enrich the Azzurro technical staff in Trento there will be, in rotation, Matteo Boniciolli, Stefano Pillastrini, Davide Bonora and Giuseppe Mangone. Davide Villa and Michele Carrea will instead be present at the Training Camp in Folgaria. Also in Folgaria, training sessions will be refereed by Manuel Mazzoni.
While waiting for the Scudetto Series between Virtus Bologna and Olimpia Milano to end, the national team’s technical staff will work with the athletes available to start building the team which, after two friendly matches (23 June against Georgia in Trento and 25 June against Spain in Madrid) will fly to Miami and then to Puerto Rico to play the Pre-Olympic Tournament (2/7 July). The Trento gathering will also be an opportunity to see some of the most interesting talents on the Italian basketball scene at work. The coach wanted to give continuity to the “Green Team” project launched last year with the two friendlies against Spain in Torrejon de Ardoz.
The national team therefore returns to Trentino, where for several seasons it has found the ideal conditions to prepare for major international competitions. This year too, hundreds of enthusiasts are expected on Alpe Cimbra ready to support the boys from Pozzecco from the stands of the Palazzetto di Folgaria (Via delle Nazioni Unite 21/b, all sessions open). A now fixed and much appreciated event is the presentation of the team in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi: the event will be held, in the presence of coach Pozzecco and a player from the national team, on Saturday 15 June at 6.00 pm and will be open to the public.
On Wednesday 19 June from 5pm, again in Piazza Marconi, Azzurro Awudu Abass will interview, together with Tommaso Marino, his club and national teammate Achille Polonara as part of his podcast “Step Out On Tour”. Again, the event is open to the public.
The press conference to present the friendly match that the Azzurri will play in Trento the following day, Sunday 23 June, against Georgia will take place in Trento on Saturday 22 June.
The stay in Trentino will therefore end on Sunday 23 June at the “Il T Quotidiano Arena” at 7.00 pm with the tenth edition of the “Trentino Basket Cup” and the challenge against Georgia by Tornik’e Shengelia. Start scheduled for 7.00pm live on Sky Sport. Tickets are still on sale at this link.
Tuesday 25 June at the WiZink Center in Madrid, Azzurri against coach Sergio Scariolo’s Spain (8pm live on Sky Sport). On June 26th the flight to Miami, where the Azzurri will undergo two days of training before moving permanently to San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico and home of the Pre-Olympic tournament. After the debut against Bahrain (2 July) the match against the hosts (4 July). In case of passage of the semi-final and eventual final round with the first two classified in the group which includes Lithuania, Mexico and Ivory Coast.
