At the end of the Basketball Champions League match between his Galatasaray and Rytas Vilnius , won by the Turks in overtime, Gianmarco Pozzecco appeared at a press conference to talk not only about the match, but also about his great friend Achille Polonara and his battle against leukemia.
The former Italian national team coach was pleased to hear about Polonara's return to the court, albeit a temporary one, wearing the Dinamo Sassari uniform . "I coached Achille in Sassari , and when I became Italy 's national coach," Pozzecco recalled, "he played our most important and challenging matches incredibly well.
We faced Milan in the semifinals, we were down 1-0 and we knew that another defeat would end the series, but Achille scored 30 points allowing us to win Game 2. Then, probably the most important game of all the ones we played together: the EuroBasket round of 16 against Serbia . There, too, Achille was formidable."
"When they told me about his illness," Pozzecco continues, "I thought it was the most difficult match I've ever had to play, but then I remembered that Achilles always gives his best when faced with something complicated. That's why I'm not surprised he wants to return to the field. If he does, he'll be my idol for the rest of my life ."
(Unioneonline/ ns)
