Cecilia Zandalasini apologized after Italy's 55-52 loss to the USA on Sunday at the Women's World Cup, a game that ended with her missing a contested 3-pointer that could have tied it. No foul was called on the final play, and the sequence quickly became the flashpoint from a one-possession finish.
The moment mattered because Italy had pushed the Americans to the edge before the closing shot, and because the final possession was decided in real time with officials seeing no contact worthy of a whistle. Jackie Young was guarding Zandalasini on that play, and the U.S. had leaned on interior offense to draw fouls and score at the foul line throughout the game.
Zandalasini's own numbers showed how central she was to Italy's effort. She finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes, then reacted sharply after the game, yelling at officials and needing to be held back by staff members. In the postgame press conference, she said, “I would like to apologize for the way I reacted,” and added, “It wasn’t sportsmanship at all.” She also said, “Yeah, just wanted to apologize to the team and the referee,” then added, “When I wear this jersey, it’s just a different me I guess,” before finishing with, “I feel embarrassed.”
Italy had the U.S. on the ropes for much of the night, but the Americans kept scoring at the foul line when the game tightened. Jackie Young led the USA with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Angel Reese added eight points and three rebounds. Those details made the ending harder to swallow for Italy: after 40 minutes of pressure, the final judgment came down to one no-call and one missed shot.
There is no sign of a review or a change to the result, which leaves the final possession as the lasting image from Italy's trip to Berlin. For Zandalasini, the apology may soften the postgame reaction, but it does not erase the question of what officials saw when she rose for the shot that would have kept Italy alive.
