copravolley

Mancinelli hasn't been playing for many years, has he? I lost track of him a long time ago and I haven't been following our league lately.

I feel another lost for Sabalenka in Slam final this year: 3x against US girls + another lost to Anisimova in Wimbledon semis.

Belinelli didn't retire? Is it just about classic basketball?

Uzbekistan, which won a significant number of gold medals in Paris, will lose the most from Russia's return. It will also cause confusion because the rankings will be random, and often someone from Russia and Uzbekistan might fight each other earlier. It was similar in Paris, with the two best boxers in the 90 kg category, Abbes (Italy) and Uzbekistan, fighting in the first round (the Italian lost after a controversial decision, but if it had happened in the final, he would have at least won the silver medal, but this time he was left with nothing). Overall, the Italian federation screwed up completely in Paris – it's common knowledge that in sports like boxing, judo, and wrestling, lobbying and pressure over judges are key. Most of these verdicts could have gone on other side. Because of this, we lost about 5 medals in judo and boxing alone.

Italy last advanced from their group at the World Cup in 2006, when we won all tournament. Slovakia advanced in 2010, so you are better than us in that respect. Besides, you have Calzona and we have Gattuso

At Euro 2024, there was a Round of 16 tie, and England scored to make it 1-1 in stoppage time. Italy was out of form in 2010, and besides, how can you underestimate someone when you've only played two group games before and you only won two points? Of course Germany, like many other strong teams are in poor form at the beginning of September, but Slovakia is almost certain to qualify for the play-offs from second place. They need to beat Luxembourg twice and Northern Ireland at home. 52 place in ranking is probably due to their poor performance in the Nations League, but isn't it better to get out of the group stage at the European Championship and then go to the World Cup? In my opinion, Slovakia is doing much better than Poland or the Czech Republic in last years, which have more players and greater potential.

General for me, since that 2010 and the World Cup, where you defeated Italy last match in group phase, Slovakia has been pushing their squad to its limits: 120%. Their potential is small, their league weak, but their results are excellent. They play regularly in major tournaments, occasionally qualifying for elimination phase and they compete with 100% ambition. Now, after this victory against Germany, a playoff spot is almost certain.

Generally I think, that the Netherlands haven't won anything in the 21st century. Something was always missing in the finals, semi-finals, etc. I remember our match against them in the semi-finals of Euro 2000 in Rotterdam?, where Toldo saved two penalties in regularn time, we finished with in 9 men to 11 they, and ultimately we won the penalty shootout after the match.

10-15 years ago, it would have been possible to beat Germany, but today? They're world champions and are playing brilliantly here, unlike Greece. But first, we need to beat Slovenia with Doncic... In this situation, reaching the top eight again will be a success, but to continue developing, you need more good players, one true leader and a solid/profesional coach, not Pozzecco, who gets at least one technical foul every game. Btw., even on 2021 OG in Tokio we beat Germany on group phase, but they a huge progress and we are in a similar place as then.

In my opinion, Greece is playing so bad. With a monster like Giannis, they can only minimal beat Spain or Italy, and without him, they lost to Bosnia. For me, he's probably the most dominant player in European history. Neither Nowitzki, Gasol, Doncic, nor anyone else had such physical force. Without him, Greece would probably have lost to both Spain and Italy. This is what I wrote: if we had even one player like him since the early 21st century... Spain is much weaker than some time ago to be, but this is their worst EuroBasket result in almost 70 years... A disaster. They lost two crucial games to Georgia and Italy, teams at their level. They fought today, but missed too many free throws in the last seconds of game. It's a very difficult bracket for Italy: the Round of 16: Slovenia and then possibly Germany in 1/4. The top eight is probably the maximum for us and even then, it will be very difficult to get there. I'm counting on Niang's development, because without one or two stars who make a real difference, like in Greece or Germany, it's very difficult to achieve success. Slovenia also has only one Doncic but he could eliminate us in one single excellent performace, if he has his day. But fortunately, he doesn't have the physical force of the unstoppable Greek leader. Today, five Spaniards surrounded him, and he gave ball to outside and Greece score the three points.

On other hand, Spain may soon suffer its worst basketball defeat in almost 70 years...

2-0, lol

I watch basket, but thank you.

Now Spain also play in Euobasket against Greece.

Where do you watch this match? SVK- GER?

Slovakia- Germany 1-0 for half- time. Slovakia doesn't have any big stars, but for many years it has had a solid team that fights at 100%.

0-3. I think, that record from 1998r., isn`t be safe

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_D But these were the finals at least :P Those were still times when Spain played like never before, but lost like always

When I was younger, I thought good looking were the only thing that mattered, but over past time, I've come to realize that intelligence and a sense of humor are also very important. Money is definitely important too, but more in terms of stability in future life, but only up to a certain point. Unless, of course, you're a WAG girl hunting down famous footballers :P

Sure

Uff, we will not play against France in 1/8 Only possible options for now are: Slovenia or Israel: It depends of Spain- Greece match results.

In men`s it was a much more difficult and there is probably not enough time to do that. After 2006 and the Turin Olympic, unfortunately, there was no qualitative change, whether for women or men.

I wonder what matters most to a girl like that when choosing a partner? Good looking, a lot of money, great fame? Or maybe all three at once :P

For me the level of play at this World Championships is very poor. It probably wasn't a good idea to change the date from every fourth year to every two year cycle. The USA has been out of form from the start of season, China with some juniors in their squad, Serbia with or without Boskovic, but they've already had a very weak second season for a row. Japan is capitalizing on what they have, namely their opponents' weaknesses. Italy, Turkey, and possibly Brazil are the only top teams that have taken this season seriously from the start. They all have stable rosters from previous years, barring some minor injuries like Pietrini, Degradi, or Ana Cristina. From what I'm seeing here, any lack of gold for Italy will be a failure in my opinion. It's clear that Velasco has taken the matter very seriously, and all of the team are fully mobilized to win the one missing gold medal for Monica de Gennaro, who is retiring from the Italian National Team after this season. However, our situation is far from ideal before the 1/2 finals: we need to beat a strong Brazil, playing as the second semifinalist in saturday and then probably Turkey with Santarelli in the final (I don`t belive for Japan chance), who were the only team to send their best possible lineup and have almost no injuries. Italy must show strength, consistency, and top form; then they'll win their last two matches, and it won't matter whether their semifinal is played earlier or later. We can only lose to ourselves, because Brazil without Ana Cristina is a lower level, and even the best Turkey with Vargas was never a top-tier team level, like the USA, Brazil, or Serbia some years ago. All we can do is wait for the weekend, play our best games of this year (sespite the series of victories, I think we haven't played a really good match this year yet) and can completed cycle of our domination, that has been going on since Velasco's arrival at the beginning of 2024 on Italian bench (Olympic gold, World gold and 2- golds on VNL: 2024/2025).

:P I don`t know her... This is old foto?