Tokyo 2020, the men’s Italvolley flies to the quarterfinals

FROM THE ENCOUNTER IN TOKYO. The Italian volleyball has engaged the high gears. First the girls who qualified for the second phase two days early. Now the men who get the third success out of four games played at the Olympic tournament, also reaching the quarterfinals. Yet for the Italian sextet, coached by Gianlorenzo Blengini, the commitment was not the easiest. In fact, on the path of our national team there was Iran who had beaten the world champions Poland on the first day of the group. It ended 3-1 for Italy (30-28; 25-21; 21-25; 25-21) in a match that Blengini’s team was able to keep in hand after a very long and balanced first set, which lasted the beauty of 39 minutes. Having lost the third set, the Azzurri took over the situation again, closing the fourth and decisive fraction with an advantage of four points. For Italvolley, which so far have only lost to Poland, while also defeating Canada and Japan, qualifying for the quarter-finals is a source of satisfaction. «A hard-fought race with the first kilometer set that we knew would be very difficult – said coach Blengini -. The team compensates for its difficulties, with each other and stays together, this is the most important thing. There were moments in which we struggled in the block break phase, but I must say that all the guys were really good at being all ready ». However, there is a problem for the Azzurri: “Zaytsev? Yes, he also has a problem with his finger – continued Blengini – I think he took a cue but there is a question of privacy on the details. The match with Venezuela? We have several particular situations from a medical point of view. We will wait for the players to cool down, then we will hold a summit on the day’s program, both on the availability and on the conditions of each one. “
In the last round of the elimination round, Sunday 1 August, at 9.25 am Italian, the Azzurri will play against Venezuela. Race which, at this point, is valid only for placement in the elimination round.