ITA - Recalcati parts ways with Italian national team

ROME (FIP) – Italy on Saturday announced that Carlo Recalcati will no longer coach the national team.

The 64-year-old, a former Italy player, had two major achievements in his time as coach.

His Italian side lost their first two games at EuroBasket 2003 in Sweden but battled back and beat France in the bronze-medal game to qualify for the Olympics.

The following year, Recalcati steered the Italians on a magical run to the final at the Athens Games where they fell to Manu Ginobili and Argentina.

The beginning of the end for Recalcati was EuroBasket 2007, when Italy failed to reach the Quarter-Finals.

That meant they would not play at the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and instead had to go through qualifying for EuroBasket 2009.

By finishing third in Group A of their Division A campaign in 2008 behind Serbia and Bulgaria, they failed to win a place at this year’s EuroBasket in Poland.

However, they still had a chance to reach the Final Round in Poland but lost out to France in the Additional Qualifying Round this summer.

Basketball’s governing body in Italy issued a statement on Saturday confirming Recalcati's eight-year spell as Azzurri boss is over.

"The Italian Basketball Federation thanks coach Carlo Recalcati for his professional work of the highest level handed to the benefit of Italian basketball. Evidence of it are the great achievements achieved by the national team under his guidance," the statement said.

"We recognize the professional and human effort shown in the eight years of collaboration and the example of loyalty and sporting correctness.

"Coach Carlo Recalcati wishes to thank the FIP for the honor to have been given the possibility to guide the national team for eight years, time in which he has received professional as well as personal gratification."

Italy have yet to announce who will replace Recalcati at the helm.

FIBA