Basketball, the latest waltz in Italy for Gigi Datome

After the World Cup, Datome will join Olimpia’s coaching staff

This is it, the moment has arrived. Today, in Ravenna, Datome will play his last game with the national team on Italian soil. The friendly against Puerto Rico will be not only another important test for coach Pozzecco’s boys ahead of the World Cup, but also the best way to say goodbye to the Italian captain.

“I feel privileged because I am living my last weeks as a player in an amazing environment. I’ve been on different teams and toured the world but the national team jersey is the one that defines me the most, it’s been transversal, it’s always been there,” his words reported by Gazzetta dello Sport.

For Datome, the one against Puerto Rico will be game number 193 of his incredible career with the national team. To go back to his debut match, one has to turn the hands of the clock back to June 2, 2007 when he played his “first” in the Azzurri, in Bari, against Croatia (friendly). “The stage is all Gigi’s,” Poz said yesterday, “I am honored to be able to coach him. At the end of the World Cup he will be a legend, as Petrucci said. For me he already is,” Coach Pozzecco’s words. In short, everything is ready for Datome’s last goodbye to his public. Then space for the World Cup with the first game scheduled for August 25 against Angola in Manila.