Italian coach Carlo Recalcati and his team are holding their heads high despite coming up short in reaching their goal.

Yesterday’s 74-66 loss to Croatia in the Elimination Round knocked Italy out of the tournament. As a result, the Italians failed to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time since 2001 and will not come close to duplicating their bronze medal performance in EuroBasket 2003 or silver medal finish at last year’s Olympics.

Croatia dominated the paint and played stingy fourth quarter defense to beat Italy 74-66 in Podgorica and earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

Italy couldn’t buy a basket in the fourth quarter and Croatia’s decisive edge in rebounding and points in the paint contributed to their third win of EuroBasket 2005.

Croatia's young and talented team takes on an experienced Italy this evening in Podgorica for the right to advance to the quarter-finals.

Croatia and Italy, two squads with stark differences in style and team make-up will tip-off at 18:00 local time at the Moraca Sports Center.

"If we want to reach the podium again, our team ethic has to be stronger than the others". After winning two medals in their last two events, Italy are no longer a surprise package: to combat the new pressure, Recalcati has chosen eight of the 12 silver medalists from the Athens squad, with the addition of sharpshooter Dante Calabria and rising stars Mancinelli and Gigli, both 22 years old.