Gigi Datome enjoys a great blue finish

The words of Gigi Datome

Gigi Datome reiterated to Gazzetta dello Sport his desire to end his career in beauty by wearing the Azzurri jersey for the last time: “It was my dream as a child, the most beautiful and gratifying epilogue for me. I have played in many important teams at club level, which have made history, but the national team jersey is the one that I feel is most mine, the one that represents me most as a sportsman and as a man.”

“The hard core that took us to the Tokyo Games and then the European Championship in Berlin to the World Cup has remained intact. There is a group of young people who are advancing and will fight to win a place among the 12 who will play the Olympians. Does the team have no stars? I think Fontecchio and Melli are top players at the international level, they will be our points of reference. I am confident, I see many players who have grown and established themselves in their clubs. Now they have to make the transition from the phase of boldness to that of awareness of their role and value within this team that remains incomplete due to the atavistic lack of a vertical long, big physique to oppose the giants of the most accredited opponents. We will have to know how to adapt, as Melli has often done well, to be creative in our atypicality. Now we have to get to know each other, to grow in order to arrive at our best in Manila. The mistakes of the past must not weigh us down.”

“Today I’m not counting the days until I retire. I just want to enjoy every moment of this last adventure of mine, seize the most beautiful one. At the Berlin European Championships I had not yet decided to quit. This time it will be different,” concluded the now former Olimpia MIlano player.