Italy men's national ball hockey team

Italy men's national ball hockey team

Nickname	Gli Azzurri
Sport	Ball hockey
Founded	2003
Association	Italian National Ball Hockey Federation (INBHF)
President	Anthony Contento
Head coach	Chris Malkhassian
General manager	John Ventullo
Members	ISBHF
World Championship appearances	10 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024)
Best result	Bronze (2005)
Records	Largest win: Italy 11–1 Great Britain (Plzeň; 2009) • Largest loss: Czech Republic 12–0 Italy (Pardubice; 2017)
Website	www.inbhf.com

The Italy men's national ball hockey team Nazionale italiana di ball hockey, nicknamed the Gli Azzurri, represents Italy in international ball hockey competition. The team is organized by the Italian National Ball Hockey Federation (INBHF) and competes as a full member of the International Street and Ball Hockey Federation (ISBHF).

Italy made its debut at the 2003 Ball Hockey World Championship and has since participated in ten editions of the tournament. The team achieved its best finish in 2005, capturing the bronze medal in Pittsburgh, United States. Known for their competitive style and consistent presence on the international stage, the Azzurri have become one of the established European sides in the sport of ball hockey.

History

The Italy men's national ball hockey team made its international debut at the 2003 Ball Hockey World Championship in Sierre, Switzerland, finishing in fourth place. Two years later, the team captured its first and only medal to date, earning the bronze at the 2005 Ball Hockey World Championship in Pittsburgh, United States.

Throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s, Italy remained a consistent presence at the ISBHF World Championships, highlighted by a 7th place finish in 2009 (Plzeň, Czech Republic) and a 12th place finish in 2013 (St. John’s, Canada).

In more recent years, Italy has maintained a steady performance among the top ten nations. At the 2017 in Pardubice, Czech Republic, the team placed 10th, followed by a strong 5th place showing at the 2019 in Košice, Slovakia. Italy remained competitive with a 6th place result in the 2022 in Laval, Canada, and most recently finished 8th at the 2024 tournament in Visp and Raron, Switzerland.

World Championships

Italy made its world championship debut in 2003, were finished fourth place. In 2005 world championship the Italy won the bronze medal, defeating Portugal 6–1 in the bronze medal final game.

Tournament results

Below is a summary of Italy’s results in the ISBHF World Ball Hockey Championships:

Year	Location	Final position
2003	Switzerland, Sierre	4th place
2005	United States, Pittsburgh	Bronze (3rd)
2007	Germany, Ratingen	4th place
2009	Czech Republic, Plzeň	7th place
2013	Canada, St. John's	12th place
2015	Switzerland, Zug	10th place
2017	Czech Republic, Pardubice	10th place
2019	Slovakia, Košice	5th place
2022	Canada, Laval	6th place
2024	Switzerland, Visp / Raron	8th place

ISBHF World Ball Hockey Championships Rosters, Statistics & Results

2019 - Slovakia, Košice

Roster The following players were named to the Italy men's national ball hockey team for the 2019 ISBHF World Championships. [1] # Position Name Birth date Age at tournament Stick 96 F Adam Bevilacqua January 15th, 1988 31 R 66 F Daniel Ponce May 29th, 1990 29 R 61 D Massimo Principe March 11th, 1975 44 L 99 F Daniel Setacci November 21st, 1990 28 L 32 F Daniel Vernace July 11th, 1991 27 R 29 G Anthony Flores August 26th, 1985 33 — 30 G Markus Rocci March 7th, 2002 17 L 14 D Stefano Alonzi June 18th, 1995 23 L 44 D Peter Angiolella September 5th, 1991 27 L 49 D Michael Antonali February 13th, 1989 30 R 21 D Matthew De Persiis March 5th, 1994 25 L 16 D Marc Falzoi February 3rd, 1988 31 L 5 D Adriano Fiacconi June 16th, 1979 39 L 6 D Stefan Pittiglio August 5th, 1998 20 L 90 F Massimo D’Ettore April 3rd, 1996 23 L 39 F Samuel Gagnon October 13th, 1995 23 L 89 F Frank Giustini October 6th, 1988 30 R 92 F Christopher Chirola April 21st, 1988 31 L 12 F Tyler Laframboise December 19th, 1991 27 L 13 F Anthony Novielli July 20th, 1991 27 L 19 F Jonathan Pulicicchio (C) November 2nd, 1987 31 R 91 F Andrew Sisi November 14th, 1989 29 L 67 F Daniel Tedesco December 10th, 1993 25 L 17 F Francesco Zuccaro October 17th, 1990 28 L Player statistics Rank # Player GP G A P PPG SHG ENG PM 1 89 Frank Giustini 7 7 5 12 7 0 0 2 2 99 Daniel Setacci 7 3 8 11 3 0 0 8 3 66 Daniel Ponce 7 4 3 7 4 0 0 2 4 90 Massimo D’Ettore 7 2 4 6 2 0 0 2 5 19 Jonathan Pulicicchio 7 1 4 5 1 0 0 2 6 96 Adam Bevilacqua 7 0 4 4 0 0 0 2 7 32 Daniel Vernace 7 3 0 3 3 0 0 2 8 91 Andrew Sisi 7 2 1 3 2 0 0 10 9 67 Daniel Tedesco 7 1 2 3 1 0 0 14 10 61 Massimo Principe 7 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 11 17 Francesco Zuccaro 7 1 1 2 1 0 0 4 12 14 Stefano Alonzi 7 0 2 2 0 0 0 6 13 44 Peter Angiolella 7 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 14 92 Christopher Chirola 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 6 15 12 Tyler Laframboise 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 21 Matthew De Persiis 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 17 16 Marc Falzoi 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 18 39 Samuel Gagnon 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 19 49 Michael Antonali 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 20 6 Stefan Pittiglio 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 21 5 Adriano Fiacconi 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 22 13 Anthony Novielli 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Goaltender statistics Rank # Name GP Min Shots Saves GA Avg Svs% SO A PM 1 30 Markus Rocci 4 181 0 93 7 2.32 93.00 0 0 0 2 29 Anthony Flores 4 137 0 78 13 5.70 85.71 0 0 0 Match results Date Opponent Result Score June 14th, 2019 Canada Loss 4–6 June 16th, 2019   Switzerland Win 3–2 June 17th, 2019 Greece Loss 2–4 June 18th, 2019 Haiti Win 8–1 June 20th, 2019 Slovakia (Quarterfinals) Loss 2–3 June 21st, 2019 United States (Placement) Win (OT) 5–4 June 22nd, 2019   Switzerland (5th place game) Win (OT) 2–1

External links

• inbhf.com

1. "Roster – Italy (2019)". kosice2019.com. ISBHF. Retrieved 2025-09-27.