Serbia does not discount Poland, wins first place and will therefore be Italy's opponent in Berlin in the second round on Sunday.
The 90-56 victory of the Azzurri against Great Britain, moved by singing the hymn and honored by a respectful silence from the whole Forum during the minute of meditation for the disappearance of Queen Elizabeth II, is an irrelevant result: the +5 of half afternoon of Croatia against Ukraine had already crystallized the positions of the group of Assago, with a fourth place that greatly complicates the path of the Europeans.
Because Serbia - so far unbeaten - is among the obligatory favorites for a medal and because the size of the next opponents can become an unsolvable puzzle for Pozzecco's team, which certainly does not make the overall tonnage its main quality.
However, we must not forget the precedent that brought Italy, then coached by Sacchetti, from Belgrade to Tokyo: even then the national team was considered the underdog and managed to subvert the predictions with a brazen test and played at a high pace.
Impossible not to remember, however, that Serbia lacked Jokic, the MVP candidate of this event.
"We will miss our audience - highlights Melli, awarded for the 100 caps in the national team -. We must be honest: we missed a match and we qualify in the worst possible position. They are favorites but we will try to give our best".
Italy - which counts on the support of special guests such as Matteo Berrettini, Danilo Gallinari and Antonio Albanese - takes little time to set the record straight: 10-0 to start the match.
Great Britain,
who plays without mourning because she could not find black bands to put on the shirt, calls a time-out, the coach invites his boys to "compete" against a stronger team and the reaction of pride is vehement: 12 -2 immediately that Pozzecco doesn't like him, who raises his voice and asks for more rebound aggression.
The Azzurri shake off with the second lines and, taking advantage of the revisable opposing defense and return to +9 (29-20), but the game continues to go in tears with breaks and counter-breaks that look more like tennis than basketball.
The guests return to -3 (32-35) but Melli (11) and Fontecchio (18) have other ideas and the advantage returns in double figures (47-37) at the interval.
From then on, the race is one-way, with Great Britain scoring just 2 points in the last quarter: the
Italia widens the rotations - space for Baldasso, Biligha and Tessitori -, finds the triples of Datome (13) and digs an unbridgeable groove.
With his head already against Serbia.