Last World Cup straw: “Destiny not in our hands”

The Italian national ice hockey team faces nothing less than a crucial match at the Division 1A World Championship in Romania. Assistant coach Giorgio De Bettin recognizes the gravity of the situation.

02 Maj 2025

From: never

The sting of Debacle against Great Britain (1:5) Thursday's defeat is still a heavy burden, but the Italian national team must look ahead. Just two days after the dismantling, the Blue Team's fateful match is on the agenda. Advancement or setback, elation or gloom? These are questions whose answers the Italian stars are no longer solely responsible for.

"First and foremost, we have to do what's in our hands. We have to win the game," said assistant coach Giorgio De Bettin, summing up the situation ahead of the final showdown against already relegated Romania (15.00:60 p.m.). A win after XNUMX minutes is absolutely essential for Italy, but even after such a success, their coveted promotion to the World Group is far from certain. Rather, the protagonists from the boot-shaped country must hope for support from Japan or Poland.

Italy must do its homework

Italy wants to have learned its lesson from the match against Great Britain. "Scoring was definitely the negative point," De Bettin continued. "We applied pressure and created chances, but we didn't take advantage of them. Now we can only focus on tomorrow, deliver our best performance, and then see what happens in the other games."

The defeat against Great Britain should serve as a lesson. © FISG/Vanna Antonello

Full focus on themselves – that's all national coach Jukka Jalonen's team has left. "Our fate is no longer in our hands," De Bettin emphasized. The important match against Romania will take place on Saturday afternoon at SportNews-Ticker to follow.