Italbasket Women: Capobianco Euphoric After Historic Victory. But Now There’s the “Impossible Mission”

The taste of victory is even sweeter in the wake of the Italian women’s national basketball team’s success at the World Cup in Germany—a victory that the Azzurre had not achieved in the top international competition for women in a full thirty-two years. A very tough matchup against the United States now looms on the horizon, but Andrea Capobianco, Italy’s head coach, wants to savor the 63-54 win over the Czech Republic on the opening day of Group D at the Berlin Arena a little longer.

““We struggled a lot, but World Cup games can take a toll on anyone, and that’s exactly what happened,” said the Italian coach. “At the start, we needed to give the girls a boost, and they did a great job of encouraging one another. The game wasn’t pretty, but we needed the win, and I’m happy with how we responded. The strength of this team is that they step up when things aren’t going well.”

“We knew we’d have some problems on offense given that it was our debut in a competition like this, but by defending well, we were able to run the floor. I’m pleased to see Matilde (Villa, ed.) play her usual game, and I’m pleased to see how the team helped her get back into the swing of things.”

In addition to the young point guard from Reyer Venezia, who scored 14 points, Italy could also count on the effectiveness of Cecilia Zandalasini, the team’s top scorer with 19 points, and the Verona-André duo, both of whom scored 6 points in a relatively low-scoring game where every possession could make the difference. The next game, therefore, is on September 6 at 8:45 p.m.: the Italian women’s national team will face powerhouse USA, which defeated China 94–61 in its first game, again at the Berlin Arena.