Covid walled: Guidetti’s team is in full force for the Super Final. The Imoco wants the prize of 500 thousand euros
/ CONEGLIANO
Not predictable. This is how the Champion League women’s final between Conegliano and Vakifbank is defined; more than in a technical key, the hope must be read in terms of attention for an event that will have global television coverage, thanks also to the hourly position, in the middle of the European afternoon of May 1st, which is at most late evening in Asian countries and in the morning in the Americas. “The two strongest teams in Europe and perhaps in the world meet”, said before getting on the flight to Verona the coach of the Turkish club Giovanni Guidetti, who continues to do pre-tactics, despite having the entire squad available. after the Covid cases announced in recent days. «I would like to thank all the medical staff for allowing all the players to leave for Verona. We haven’t played such a high-level match for a long time, Conegliano is more ready than us because he played in a more closely fought Scudetto final ».
The prediction seems well directed on the panthers also by the main betting sites: the victory of the yellow and blue is given at about 1.3, while the prices of the Vakif oscillate between 2.6 and 3.35. Santarelli’s girls have learned not to deal with these aspects, having the experience to manage the pressure and expectations, first of all towards themselves, that such an appointment brings with it. Vakifbank president Absi Serda Üstünsahli even makes it a national issue: «This final is important for our club but also for all of Turkey; we feel the strength of 84 million fellow citizens and we trust in the prayers and support of all. Our team will do what is necessary to bring home the fifth star of the Champions League ».
Yesterday all the teams, even the two of the men’s final, began to get to know the Veronese taraflex, looking for points of reference that will be useful during the match; on the stands, colored blow-ups have been placed that cover the empty seats and will be used as a backdrop for scenographic light games, probably in the pre-game and for the awarding of the winning teams. These are the external elements of a great event, which in any case will only have a television audience, and which is giving away 1 million euros only tomorrow: 500 thousand will go to each of the winners, 250 thousand each in the two defeats, literally gold that drips into one. season with takings cleared.
The athletes will give a show on the field and the most awaited confrontation, if only because they are the main attackers and the most visible during the exchanges, is the one between Paola Egonu and Isabelle Haak. Both have attack percentages higher than 50% in their hands, with an average points per set in favor of the blue (6.4 against 6); the difference, however, emerged in the last four games, those that earned the respective national titles for the two clubs. The opposite of Conegliano rose to 59%, the Swede stopped at 49%, although each received a similar number of balls from her setter, about a third of the total; it is in the tight and hard-fought races that Egonu makes – and not from today – the difference, Haak played the last really difficult match probably against Conegliano, at the 2019 World Cup. –