CONEGLIANO. Invincible. Unbeatable. Legendary. They have won everything. And this time it’s not a way of saying. All. 64 in a row, 46 from August to today. The last, of course, is the most important. Imoco Conegliano are European champions, the panthers have given the decisive assault to the Champions League, the Cup par excellence, beating Vakifbank 3-2.
A victory that came after a battle that lasted over two and a half hours, against the Istanbul team that won the first and third sets, and that went 4-0 in the tiebreak. Then the strongest of all was unleashed. Here are all the report cards of the panthers.
10 EGONU Bolt, Messi, Lebron James. Pasta is that. Because if you win a Champions League final by landing 41 points out of the team’s 110, including ten in the tie-break, you can have played the game of a lifetime. But if the script is the same in the final scudetto, and for three years now on Earth she hasn’t been able to stop her, then it means being one of the greatest ever. Coach Giovanni Guidetti on the eve had said: “He is the strongest striker I have seen in my life, but we will deserve him”. Imoco Egonu-addicted? It would be stupid not to be, go ask the Lebron Lakers. How can you think that Santarelli does not want a 41-point Egonu, or worse that it is “obvious” to entrust her with the heaviest balls? It would be masochistic not to. With the Vakif, the opposite of Citadel also takes attacks that the gangs can’t land. Fly to crush balloons that are three and a half meters high. Gunes, Rasic, Haak can do nothing. When Wolosz has the ball in his hands to win the match, everyone knows where he’s going to dribble it. Yet this does not change fate. Egonu has Gunes and Haak in front, not exactly two easy to overcome: with the coldness of a robot and the precision of a sniper, he finds the swede’s fingertip, and brings the first Champions League to Conegliano.
8.5 VOLUNTEER On the eve of his match with Ognjenovic seemed one of the most balanced of the match. What are we talking about? Wins across the board. Asia commits some mistakes, especially with the power stations, but compensates with insights that not even his compatriot Copernicus. If the Imoco is Egonu-dependent, it is also Wolosz-centric.
9,5 DE GENNARO We had seen the bailouts in defense, the first times also served in bagher. In the final he added another superpower: flight. From behind the three meters he launches towards the front line to dribble the attackers. Vullo dreams of coaching a team with Moki setter, you leave it for a few more years.
8.5 FOLIE A season to chase a result. With that damned knee that from the Super Cup forced her only to take care of herself until the matches not to be missed have arrived. It takes the attributes to not give up and hit your dream. In Rapha’s scales it is not clear whether there is more class or determination; certainly there are tons of them. Santarelli chooses it because he knows well that when the matches are hot the Bolzano player does not make her legs tremble. Fahr, after a season of not making him miss him, would legitimately have deserved a few minutes on the pitch, but he will have other opportunities. Rapha is one of the most consistent throughout the match. The wall gives him only one point, but it is always there to annoy. In front of him he has insidious customers and he is certainly not frightened.
8.5 THE CROSS The Queen at the start seems to have forgotten the crown and scepter in the locker room. He gets annoyed, and picks them up when it’s time to take the cup home. A game in crescendo, crashing the certainties of the Turkish strikers, including Gabi, with five walls.
5 SYLLA He absolutely has to solve his problem with the finals. The determination he puts into every sporting expression risks becoming a burden when there is a need for coolness. Wrong once again: suffering in reception and not finding the right trajectories in attack. Two walls are not enough to redeem a performance that will have to make you think. As in the Scudetto final, Santarelli makes her sit on the bench after a set and a half, he doesn’t let her get up anymore. Conegliano’s clear path also bears his signature, the relationship with the decisive matches must be rewritten.
7,5 HILL Thanks for everything Kim. At his last in the Gialloblù jersey he could only start fixing some balls in attack, especially by looking for place 1, and with the usual precious work in reception. Inconspicuous. His absence will be next year.
7,5 ADAMS He expected to watch the final from the bench, but after a set and a half he needs his contribution to fix things. Once again the American does not tremble, her diagonal catches the Turkish wall unprepared, and in defense her wrists do not tremble.
7.5 CARAVELLO A year ago she defended Martignacco’s nine meters in A2 and worked in the office, yesterday she ended up garrisoning the taraflex in the decisive moment of the Champions League final. Another panther whose determination is not lacking. Santarelli used it with a dropper for the whole season, but yesterday, after the usual distilled contribution in the final set, throws it into the fray in the middle of the tie break and never lets it out. He draws masterpieces in reception, at the service he is very poisonous. Who knows if you remember what the Caravello was like a year ago and what it dreamed of. Reality has gotten even more beautiful.
7 GENNARI Sacrifice and punctuality. She plays little, but when called into question she does her best. The service at shoulder height puts Turkish reception in difficulty, and removes some strikers from the options in the hands of Ognjenovic.
9.5 SANTARELLI “I wouldn’t have called him.” Fabio Vullo comments on the video check request on 14-12 at the tiebreak, “No, no, I would have kept it for a warmer moment”, confirms Marco Fantasia, interpreting the thought of many, that they hadn’t seen that touch on the wall . Santarelli, on the other hand, yes, he calls the video check and takes the point that makes the name of Imoco affect the Champions League. In some phases of the match he does not recognize his girls, but manages to convey serenity and shake them. The last call is a work of art, like his career: in four years as head coach he has already won everything.
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