LUBIANA. The harsh law of 3-0. In Ljubljana Italy also won the third match of pool E against China, closing the group with full points and without ever losing a set. Great numbers for the blues of Fefè De Giorgi who, in the combined ranking of this World Cup, are in third place behind Poland and Slovenia, ahead of Italy only because they are host countries. In the general classification, in reality, Giannelli and his companions are first ahead of Serbia and Poland. But for the knockout stage mechanism this is of no use. A circumstance that has therefore placed the Azzurri against Cuba in the draw of the round of 16. And to say that the coach De Giorgi said he was “very curious to see the Cubans at work” who in fact are part of the big tour after a few years of fogging at an international level. It will still be played in Ljubljana, unless the organization changes overnight.
The one with China was a one-way match. For the initial sextet, De Giorgi chooses Anzani in place of Russo and for the rest confirms the diagonal Giannelli-Romanò, Michieletto and Lavia as hammers, central Galassi (with Anzani) and Balaso free.
Azzurri immediately ahead and Chinese in obvious difficulty. The first set ends without any particular worries at 25-14 in 20 minutes of play.
Rocket start in the second set and Italy even more ruthless in putting down the opponents. The partial after a few minutes of play is emblematic: 9-1. The statistics speak for themselves: in the second fraction Michieletto, Galassi and Romanò close with 100% in attack. In 18 minutes you get to 25-10 which is worth 2-0.
The start of the Azzurri in the third set was impressive: partial 6-0 and Yuri Romanò relentless from the opposite side under the net. The Chinese seem lost, then they recover and try to stay in the game. Lavia with a couple of well-aimed shots, however, re-establishes the right measures in the field. We proceed with the Azzurri who take off again sailing at +8 on the opponents (20-12), up to obtaining 11 match points. The curtain falls on an error by the Chinese: 25-15 in 22 ‘.
The coach De Giorgi talks with the free Balaso during Italy-China (photo Rubin / FIPAV)
Technical commissioner De Giorgi is satisfied: “Ours is a very compact group that always wants to do the best. And then there is the value of the jersey which is one of the cornerstones of our team. We are tough and tough and let’s go ahead, now we are preparing to face Cuba ”.
The elder of the group Simone Anzani is already looking forward to the match of the round of 16: “We concluded in the best way, a clear path even though we know that the clear paths create some pitfalls so we must always be careful. Now there is Cuba , a team that must not be ignited. It will be a pleasure to play against my former team mates. It will be a physical challenge, we will try not to underestimate them because if they can do really badly during the day. It has been a good Italy up to now especially for attitude. We had a simple path so we have to keep our antennas up, there will be other difficulties in the next matches. We look forward to taking the field. “
ITALY-CHINA: 3-0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-14)
ITALIA: Giannelli 1, Romanò 13, Michieletto 12, Anzani 6, Lavia 14, Galassi 7, Balaso (L). Pinali 1. Ne: Scanferla (L). Sbertoli, Recine, Bottolo, Russo, Mosca, All: De Giorgi
CHINA: Yu YT 7, Yu YC, Li YZ 9, Peng SK 2, Zhang GH 6, Zhang JY 7, Yang YM (L). Yang TY (L), Wang B. 3, Liu M. Ne: Dai QY, Zhang BL, Zhang ZJ, Miao RT All. Sheng Wu
Referees: Akinci (TUR), Cespedes (DOM)
A lasting set: 20’, 18’, 22’
THE SITUATION
This is the scheme of the pairing of the round of 16:
Gliwice: Polonia (1) vs Tunisia (16)
Ljubljana: Slovenia (2) vs Germania (15)
Ljubljana: Italy (3) vs Cuba (14)
Gliwice: Serbia (4) vs Argentina (13)
Gliwice: Brasile (5) vs Iran (12)
Ljubljana: France (6) vs Japan (11)
Ljubljana: Netherlands (7) vs Ukraine (10)
Gliwice: USA (8) vs Turkey (9)
The locations of the matches are not yet confirmed. Match dates and times to be defined.
(In brackets the position in the combined ranking)