After FIBA World Cup exit, Italy turns attention to Olympics

MANILA, Philippines – Following a tough defeat at the hands of Team USA, Italy will work on going back to the Olympics for as long as it takes.

At a post-game press conference Tuesday after their 100-63 blowout loss to the Americans, Italy’s Nicolo Melli told reporters that they will aim to qualify for the Olympics.

“We will be back next summer. We will try to qualify for the Olympics, and if not, we are gonna be there in the next summer, again, and the next summer again,” Melli told reporters.

“They asked me what this group can do more, there is nothing this group can do more. We did everything we could do and, nothing,” he added.

The team will work doubly hard in the next years until they attain their goal, the forward stressed.

“This season, we will work even harder and come back next year. And again and again and again, until we finally make it,” he said.

Italy qualified to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after failing to do so in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

The team will be facing the loser of the Germany-Latvia battle on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The losers in the quarterfinals will figure in the classification phase for the fifth to eighth places.