2024 Olympics, the Settebello gets off to a great start

Italy-Usa 12-8

Italy beats the United States 12-8 in its Olympic tournament debut in Saint Denis, Paris. È a cynical and concrete Italy, which takes a match with great expenditure. Doubles for captain Di Fulvio, rookie Gianazza and Iocchi Gratta. Defense airtight and reactive: zero counterfuges conceded to the opponents. On offense, the Azzurri punished from the perimeter, with many goals in numerical parity.

"We prepared the match well – stresses head coach Alessandro Campagna – The boys defused their defensive potential. È it was a physically demanding match. We have to recover becauseé in less than forty-eight hours we will play against Croatia. È a very tough tournament.  There is no tournament in the world tougher than this Olympics: four games in one week are not played in any competition. Four games all possible semifinals or finals from a point of view of the strength of the opponent. We will grow, now we have to think about Croatia. If we think that this match has already given us qualification, we are very wrong".

The last confrontation between the two national teams dated back to the round of 16 of the World Cup in Doha on Feb. 11: on that occasion Italy won 13-12, detaching the pass for the Paris Olympics. But it was a different match with the Azzurri weighed down by their obligation to qualify for the Games. "We maintained a constant rhythm throughout the match and were able to hold our own from the beginning to the end,” continued goalkeeper and vice-captain Marco Del Lungo. “We remained solid in defense and this gave us the extra gear to bring the match home. A few details were crucial that allowed us to gain and maintain a good lead. È the right mentality to move forward. I want to make a dedication to Antonio Parisi, my first president with whom I grew up and became an athlete. Hello Antonio, I will miss you so much".

After the winning debut with the United States, the Settebello will face Croatia on Tuesday, July 30 at 12:05 p.m., Montenegro on Thursday, Aug. 1 at 4:35 p.m., Romania on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 9:05 p.m. and Greece on Monday, Aug. 5 at 3:10 p.m.
The first four matches are played at the Aquatics Centre; starting with the last day of the group stage, Monday, Aug. 5, we move to the La Défense Arena. The top four from the two rounds advance to the quarters. Finals scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 11.