Gianmarco Pozzecco and his boys are in Manila.

Gianmarco Pozzecco and his boys are in Manila

The National Basketball Team è arrived Tuesday, in the local afternoon, in Manila, Capital of the Philippines and home of four of the eight rounds of the FIBA World Cup 2023. The Azzurri, fresh off a string of seven wins in as many matches in the preparation run (Turkey, China, Serbia, Greece, Puerto Rico, Brazil and New Zealand) will make their World Cup debut on Friday, Aug. 25 against Angola (10 a.m. in Italy, 4 p.m.00 local time, live on Rai Due, Sky Sports and DAZN) and will continue their journey in Group A on Sunday, Aug. 27 against the Dominican Republic (10 a.m. in Italy, 4 p.m. local time, live on Rai Due, Sky Sports and DAZN) on Tuesday, Aug. 29 against hosts Philippines (2 p.m. in Italy, 8 p.m. local time, live on Rai Due, Sky Sports and DAZN). Depending on the results obtained, there will then be the’crossover with Group B, the one composed of Serbia, China, Puerto Rico and South Sudan.

The opening match will be played at the Philippine Arena, a facility capable of holding more than 55,000 people, while the other two matches in the first grouping will be played at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The second phase matches will be played at the Mall Of Asia Arena.

After the last friendly match against New Zealand, the Azzurri traveled from Shenzhen to Hong Kong and from there to Manila in the day today, which will end without training sessions. Coach Pozzecco’s boys will be back on the parquet already tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 23, at the Araneta from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. local.

On Thursday, August 24, in the conference room of the Araneta, the coach and Luigi Datome will hold the usual FIBA press conference at the beginning of the competition starting at 10:25 a.m. local time (4:25 a.m. in Italy) with live streaming and on-demand on the channel