A 17-year-old is getting a taste of the World Cup for the first time

He was one of 12 debutants in the ranks of the Italian national team at the World Cup. After 6 World Cup games, they are the only team still without a point. That is unlikely to change this Tuesday in the clash against the USA. It is also questionable whether Thomas Galimberti will be allowed to step on the ice at Arena Riga again at the end of the tournament.

After Damian Clara (16), at 17, the Eppan native is the second youngest player in interim coach Giorgio De Bettin's 26-man squad. The winger made his World Cup debut on May 21st. In the game against Germany (4:9) he was in the 4th row next to Raphael Andergassen and Ivan Deluca.

“I was a bit nervous before kick-off.” Thomas Galimberti “I was a bit nervous before kick-off. But a certain amount of nervousness never hurts. As soon as the game started, the excitement quickly died down. I concentrated on my job and tried to do the best,” says Galimberti, looking back on his first appearance on the big stage. Enjoy every minute The player with jersey number 14 also played against Norway (1:4) and hosts Latvia (0:3). He was on the ice for a total of 26.18 minutes at the Arena Riga and made 33 substitutions. He watched the following defeats against defending champions Finland (0:3), Kazakhstan (3:11) and Canada (1:7) from the stands.

“Such a World Cup is impressive. For me it is an indescribable experience. The level is extremely high and the opponents are extremely strong. Even if the big superstar is missing, several players will remain in my memory. “I enjoy every minute and have learned a lot in the last few days: whether in the playful, tactical or mental areas,” the youngster enthuses. “It’s obviously a shame that we didn’t see anything of the city.” Thomas Galimberti The only downside: “It's obviously a shame that we didn't see anything of the city. We also couldn't enjoy the atmosphere that would normally exist in the huge arena with spectators. I spent most of the time in the room, sleeping a lot or watching Netflix series.” Galimberti had to reschedule Galimberti had originally only planned to complete the first week of training in Bolzano and then go back to school. It ended up being 6 weeks. “I had to keep throwing my plans aside. But I was happy to do that. “The day before I left for Latvia, I found out that I would be taking part in a World Cup for the first time,” smiles the Eppan native, who attends the commercial high school in Auer.

The aspiring talent first got to know the ice rink at the age of 4. “I came to ice hockey through Fabian Dellagiacoma’s brother and immediately fell in love with the sport. “My parents made a lot of sacrifices and did everything for me so that I could be here in Riga today,” Galimberti knows exactly who he owes the most in his career. <a data-caption="Thomas Galimberti bestritt bei seinem WM-Debüt in Riga 3 Spiele: Der 17-jährige Eppaner kam gegen Deutschland, Norwegen und Gastgeber Lettland (im Bild) zum Einsatz. © Andreas Robanser" data-fancybox="inline-77562" target="_image" href="https://s3-images.sportnews.bz/_images/scale/1280x1280/img/2021/05/thomas-galimberti-bestritt-bei-seinem-wm-debuet-in-riga-3-spiele-der-17-jaehrige-eppaner-kam-gegen-deutschland-norwegen-und-gastgeber-lettland-im-bil.jpg"> Thomas Galimberti played 3 games in his World Cup debut in Riga: The 17-year-old from Eppan played against Germany, Norway and hosts Latvia (pictured). © Andreas Robanser

Until now, the physically strong striker, who particularly emulated NHL star Patrick Kane as a child and now raves about Connor McDavid, has always remained loyal to his hometown club HC Eppan, with whom he won the U15 Italian championship title. That could change in the future: “I would be interested in moving abroad. Just like a move to a higher league. But nothing has been decided yet. After the World Cup I will recover a little from the strenuous and extremely exciting season and then focus on the coming season.”

The highlight of the season that was coming to an end was undoubtedly the World Cup. Galimberti also made his final breakthrough in the Italian Hockey League (IHL). In 18 games he achieved an impressive 21 points (12 goals). The World Cup debutant will soon start summer training and sweat with the “Pirates” four times a week. “Thomas is a very complete striker who has a great future ahead of him.” Günther Hell Former national goalkeeper Günther Hell, sports director at HC Eppan, thinks highly of Thomas Galimberti: “Thomas is a very complete striker who has a great future ahead of him. He has developed very well recently and has enormous potential, especially offensively. He is a strong ice skater with good vision. He drew attention to himself with his carefree style of play. So far everything has worked out for him; he was successful everywhere. Nevertheless, Thomas still has a long way to go. He still has to learn to read certain game situations better. He often plays too risky and perhaps too arrogant.”

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A 17-year-old is getting a taste of the World Cup for the first time

Thomas Galimberti was one of 12 debutants in the ranks of the Italian national team at the World Cup. The 17-year-old had originally only planned to complete the first week of training in Bolzano and then go back to school.

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