Basketball, Italy women: Villa summoned at 16. And he scores most of all

After the European Championship in June where it reached the round of 16, the women’s national team returns to the field for the first two matches of Group H to qualify for the European 2023: Thursday Slovakia-Italy in Piestany; Sunday Italy-Luxembourg in Faenza. The blues are back with a big news: among the 14 called up by the coach Lardo there is the debutante Matilde Villa, 16-year-old playmaker from Costa Masnaga. She is the new promise.

early debuts

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A predestined given the age even if in the case of debut Thursday at the age of 16, 10 months, 28 days would not become the youngest basketball player ever to wear the jersey of the senior national team. Before her, in fact, Marilena Draghetti (16 years and 8 months), Cecilia Zandalasini (16 years and 8 months), Stefania Passaro (16 years and 9 months) and Daniela Bognolo (16 years and 9 months) were more precocious. The last Under 17 to make his debut in the national team was Zandalasini in December 2012. Nine years later it was Matilde Villa’s turn, who yesterday at the Acqua Acetosa meeting in Rome met with the other Italians Marcell Jacobs: the Olympian also trains in the gym of basketball.

maker

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Villa imposed himself on the Serie A news last season when he scored 36 points in the league against Sassari. In the current season he has retouched his personal best of scoring with 38 against Campobasso. Today, together with Nicole Romeo (naturalized) she is the Italian player with the highest average points: 16.2 in 33 ‘of use, tenth overall in Serie A-1. Born in Lissone where she started with the minibasket following the example of her older brother, Matilde grew up in Costa Masnaga together with her twin Eleonora with whom she shares the role of director in the Brianza team. “I can’t describe the emotion I’m feeling for this call – says Matilde -, I’m dazed. For me it is an honor to wear the blue jersey and all the companions here at the meeting are helping me to fit in ”. At the 2023 European Championship, which will experience the final stages in Slovenia and Israel, 14 teams qualify, the first of each group and the four best runners-up of the 10 groups, the one of Italy also includes Switzerland. In the event that the two host countries are among the teams that have passed the round, the fifth and sixth best second will also qualify.