Waterpolo: Iocchi Scratch, the east wind pushes the Settebello to the Europeans

The world silver of Budapest, three years after the gold of Gwangju. The historic taboo overthrown in Strasbourg, with the conquest of the first World League. Now the assault on another half-taboo, here is the next mission: Settebello has not won the European Championships since the distant 1995 edition of Vienna, the year in which Ratko Rudic renewed the team by dismissing some veterans including Sandro Campagna. Then the usual East wind blown again that Matteo Iocchi Gratta knows well, as well as he knows the atmosphere that awaits the Azzurri in Split in Croatia from today: “Playing in front of an audience of connoisseurs always gives further stimuli, like it also happened in Budapest ”observes the new phenomenon of our waterpolo, a talent that has appeared in the first team this season and on which everyone agrees. Starting with Rudic, the greatest of all, who said of him: “He has enormous potential, he knows how to play in every role and can represent the future of Settebello”. Meanwhile, he is already contributing to the rich present, in the group that after the Tokyo Olympics was rejuvenated and looks to Paris 2024.

POLYVALENT

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Iocchi Scratch, fluent speech and polite manners, 1.95 tall by 103 kilos, will turn twenty on Thursday and is at home in the Balkans in the true sense of the word. He was born in Berane, a Montenegrin town where mother Ivana’s parents reside: she grew up in Belgrade, shortly before the conflicts in Yugoslavia she came to look for work in Italy, in Rome she met Paolo and love blossomed. The capital is therefore the city of Matteo, who however returns to breathe the mountain air of Berane every summer for the holidays (alternating it with the sea of ​​Kotor), speaks perfectly Montenegrin, has relatives scattered in the former Yugoslavia (even in Croatia itself , Dubrovnik) and in the elimination round of the Europeans he will find himself right in front of Montenegro in the big match that will decide the primacy and therefore direct access to the quarters. “Skipping the round of 16 would be a good thing to recover some energy, considering how tiring these months have been. Certainly such a busy calendar of major events is incomprehensible ”. Campagna resorted to turnover, also due to some injuries, but Matteo never gave up.

THE CARREER

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Iocchi Gratta, launched by Vis Nova Roma, played in Savona in the last two championships and would like a future as a sports journalist. He is therefore a universal: he was born as an attacker with Alessandro Calcaterra, Angelini in Liguria taught him to mark, Campagna in the national team also entrusted him with the tasks of center goal. “I was lucky enough to be led by excellent coaches. Calcaterra was the first to believe in me and I will always be grateful to him. Being a complete water polo player is also nice because he gives him more chances to play. And then, in modern water polo it is an almost natural evolution. What do I need to improve at? In continuity throughout the entire 32 ‘”. Christian Presciutti from Brescia and Aleksandar Ivovic from Montenegro among his idols: “Christian is one of the … reasons why I play water polo. I was struck on TV by his scream in the London Olympic semifinal with Serbia, I was ten and I said: I want to do it too. Ivovic is a legend and it will be an indescribable honor to play alongside him ”. Because Matteo will be in Recco next season, among the champions of Italy and Europe. “I get there on tiptoe, with a great desire to learn from many aces. I will not be scared if the minutes are less than usual: he is like a player who goes from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid ”. Sport is in the family DNA: “My father played basketball, like my cousin Nikola Nonkovic who this year was promoted to A-1 with Verona and is now back in Rieti. Basketball player like my grandmother Jelena who was in the Red Star and also practiced handball, a discipline that I follow with pleasure. And then I cheer Boston Celtics and Juventus ”. In the wake of the latest statements, in this intense summer (the successes in the Sardinia Cup of Sassari and in the Four Nations of Belgrade have also arrived), Settebello dives with confidence into the European Championships in which other teams leave some big players to rest. Soft debut against Slovakia: “Usual rivals for the podium: Spain, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Greece. France continues to grow and will be a tough nut to crack for everyone. For us in the first phase, against Georgia, it will not be easy ”. Compared to the victorious World League in Strasbourg, Campagna finds Di Fulvio and Bruni in place of the young Ferrero and Cassia. And compared to the World Cup, only one left-handed (Damonte) causes Echenique to recover. Unknown arbitrage: after the World Cup, at the World League finals in the various friendly tournaments, we have seen more permissive directions. What the rough formations of the East like. “Whatever the yardstick, it’s up to us to adapt intelligently”. The last blue podium dates back to Budapest 2014, bronze. In the same city two years ago, when Hungary prevailed, Settebello closed in sixth place. In addition to that of ’95, the other two golds arrived in ’47 and ’93. All the matches in Italy will be broadcast live by RaiSport.

THE BLUE: Del Lungo, Nicosia, Alesiani, E. Di Somma, Dolce, Renzuto, F. Condemi, N.Presciutti, F. Di Fulvio, Damonte, Cinnamon, Bruni, A.Fondelli, Iocchi Scratch, Martial.

THE FORMULA: 16 teams divided into four groups, the leaders go directly to the quarters, second and third in the round of 16.

THE ROUNDS: Italy, Georgia, Slovakia, Montenegro (A); Greece, Malta, France, Croatia (B); Romania, Germany, Spain, Holland (C); Serbia, Hungary, Israel, Slovenia (D).

Monday 29 – Group A: Georgia-Montenegro (10.30), Italy-Slovakia (15.30). Group B: Greece-France (19), Malta-Croatia (21). Group C: Romania-Spain (9), Germany-Netherlands (17). Group D: Serbia-Israel (12), Hungary-Slovenia (14).

Wednesday 31 – Group A: Montenegro-Slovakia (14), Italy-Georgia (17). Group B: Greece-Malta (10.30), Croatia-France (20.30). Group C: Netherlands-Spain (12), Romania-Germany (15.30). Group D: Slovenia-Israel (9), Serbia-Hungary (19).

Friday 2 – Group A: Georgia-Slovakia (10.30), Italy-Montenegro (19). Group B: Malta-France (15.30), Greece-Croatia (20.30). Group C: Germany-Spain (14), Romania-Netherlands (17). Group D: Hungary-Israel (9), Serbia-Slovenia (12).

Sunday 4 round of 16, Tuesday 6 quarter-finals, Thursday 8 semifinals, Sunday 10 finals.