After three victories against Iran, China and Serbia, De Giorgi’s Italy closes pool 2 in Rotterdam with a defeat. The winner this time is Poland, vice-champion of the world, who impose themselves with partial scores of 25-19, 26-28, 25-18, 20-25. Azzurri who are still in full swing for the final eight in July and will soon fly to the Philippines to play pool 3 against Brazil, Canada, Slovenia and Japan. But first it will be the turn of the women’s Italy coached by Mazzanti on the field as early as June 28 in Bangkok
The first defeat in the VNL pool 2 arrives in Rotterdam for Italvolley. After the three victories against Iran, China and Serbia, the Azzurri lost to Poland vice world champion who prevails with partials of 19-25, 26-28, 25-18, 20-25. Italy which however remains in full swing for the final eight which will be played in Gdansk in July. De Giorgi’s team therefore closes this week 2 and prepares to fly to Pasay City, in the Philippines, for pool 3 which begins on July 4th and where there will be Brazil, Canada, Slovenia and Japan. And speaking of pool 3, the European champions of Mazzanti take the field before the boys, engaged in Bangkok in the third week of the Nations League. Azzurre already on the field on 28 June against Brazil. Match live on Sky Sports.
The story of the match
In the now usual rotation of central players, De Giorgi chooses the pair Galassi-Russo, with Anzani initially out. For the rest, the setter-opposite diagonal made up of captain Giannelli and Romanò, Lavia and Michieletto the two spikers and Scanferla the libero is very confirmed. The Poland coach, Nikola Grbic, focuses on the naturalized Cuban Leon, spiker and captain of Sir Perugia, but also on Kurek opposite ex Lube and Monza. In front of many Polish fans, departure under the sign of Yuri Romanò: it’s his four consecutive points to bring Italy up 4-3 after an initial 0-2 draw. From there comes a long series of overtaking and counter-overtaking between the two teams, with Italy a bit too foul in the serve, up to the Polish extension on 15-18 thanks to Leon’s ace. Advantage that Grbic’s national team increases in the final of set closed by a mistake by Michieletto on 19-25. Italy got off to a better start in the second set: a first half by Russo and a mistake by the Polish front row lead us up 2-0, but our opponents equalized immediately at 2-2 with a dunk out by Michieletto from place two. The first important break comes in the middle of the set and it is Fornal who signs the +4 Poland with a nice block on Romanò (14-10) but it is precisely the serving turn of Piacenza’s opponent that restores parity (14-14). Balance that does not last long with Grbic’s team which immediately returns to +3 (14-17) but is once again taken up by the Azzurri (18-18). From there it was a point-to-point fight until Kurek decided on the advantage at 26-28 after a wrong set point from Italy. The partial lost to the advantages does not discourage Italy which restarts very strongly in the third set with an immediate break of 4-0 on Giannelli’s nine-metre turn. An advantage that De Giorgi’s boys are good at increasing by going up to 13-7 after a good block by Michieletto on Fornal. Gap that our opponents are no longer able to fill: Lavia blocks Kurek on 25-18. Unlike the third set, the fourth opens with great balance: few mistakes on both sides and teams that easily keep the ball substitution (11-11). The first important break arrives at 13-16 with a point from Leon which lands a long reception of the second blue line. From there it’s only Poland, the changes from the coach who sends Sbertoli onto the field to dribble: he closes Kochanowski con un ace sul 20-25.