Home » Volleyball women are on top of Europe Egonu and companions cancel Serbia

Volleyball women are on top of Europe Egonu and companions cancel Serbia

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Revenge of the blue after the disappointment at the Tokyo Olympics: 3-1 to the hosts and continental title to Italy

The Belgrade night is wonderfully blue. Merit of the Italian women’s volleyball team, able to beat Serbia 3-1 at home (24-26, 25-22, 25-19, 25-11) and to get up after the Olympic flop, when the elimination had come in the quarter-finals at the hands of the Serbs. Then arrived at the bronze and presented themselves to the European home championships as reigning champions, as well as holders of the world title: favorites, in short.

Yet Italy has worked the miracle, because this is the success against a team that had not lost a match at the European Championships since 2015: nine out of nine wins for Davide Mazzanti’s team, the third continental title brought home after those of 2007 and 2009, a group that never gave up and that, on the contrary, regrouped precisely to go beyond the disappointment of Tokyo. Dispelling what had recently become a real curse, since three disappointments in a row had come against Serbia: before the Olympics, in fact, there were already the knockouts of the 2018 World Cup in the final and that of the 2019 European Championships in semi.

Yesterday, however, the triumph. Replicating the success obtained against the Serbs in the final act of Euro 2007, when the girls then coached by Barbolini had imposed themselves with a clear 3-0. After the European football championship won by Mancini’s boys, then Sylla and her companions’ one was served: never dome, bad yet smiling. Twelve hyenas dressed in blue, here. Brave not to dismantle after losing the first set 24-26, moreover on a missed call for invasion of the feared Boskovic. From that moment on, in front of over twenty thousand Serbian fans who relived the recent nightmare of the pre-Olympic basketball knockout against Sacchetti’s Italy, Mazzanti’s girls made little or no mistakes: first Orro and then Malinov – who took over during the third set – they have been able to vary the game without giving reference points to the defense of the hosts, the reception has forgotten the stammering of Tokyo with little or no mistake, Egonu has started hammering on his own (29 points at the end).

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Evened the scores in the second set with a winning wall from Danesi, ours sculpted the masterpiece after falling asleep at the beginning of the third set, recovering from 3-8 and sending Boksovic into confusion with perfect defensive readings.

Italy’s march became unstoppable: 25-19 to catch a glimpse of the banner, before touching the dream in a literally dominated fourth set. Closed by captain Sylla (20), took the field despite a messy ankle and after an Olympics played badly. Her blue lock in the middle of the field became the symbol of a historic enterprise: «I can’t believe it, I’m very happy – her first words -. We were looking forward to facing Serbia again. In Tokyo we were a bit ashamed: we had not expressed ourselves at our level, but here we have shown what we know and can do. This gold is a revenge that we strongly wanted: the failure of the Games cannot be canceled, but now we have shown how strong we are ». Almost voiceless, inevitably, the coach Mazzanti: «It is difficult to express what I feel. I am empty, we have lived through a very tough period: we took what we wanted. Taking the field immediately after the Olympics was an incredible effort, as was going back to having fun in the gym: little by little we became the Italy we know again ». –

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