Having crushed favourites Poland (men) and Turkey (women) with performances bordering on perfection, Italvolley flies to the quarter-finals of Paris 2024 with many more certainties.

Yes, so dreaming is legitimate: with the victories over Poland (in the men’s sector, 3-1) and Turkey (in the women’s sector, 3-0), both Italvolley teams will close the groups in first place, earning an advantageous position for the continuation (certainly in the men’s sector, probably in the women’s sector). Our representatives had already qualified for the quarterfinals, but these matches were a sort of moment of truth: not that the matches previously played were not challenging, but these pitted Italvolley against two super favorites for the most precious medal, and having achieved such clear victories is a huge signal for the future. The pairings now smile on the men’s team, which deserves to meet Japan in the quarter-finalsworst third repechage: an opponent who has tradition and certainly should not be underestimated, but who could worry us only if we did not put in a sufficient performance on the taraflex. The same fate could befall the Italians, who however must wait for the outcome of Brazil-Poland to know the ranking: if they were to pass as number 1 seeds (there is more than a 75% probability that this will happen), would face the Dominican Republic again, already defeated at the debut: here too, the same argument made for the boys would apply (the scoreboard would be complicated if it were not so: the candidates for the medal are, in fact, all the other 6). In any case, we arrive at the knockout stage strong of two games frankly not even in the rosiest dreams: we must pack in our suitcase the humble attitude that allowed us to get there like this.

The men’s Italian volleyball team was opposed to the Polandthe reigning world champion, who had crushed us right in the final: this time, right from the first few bars, Fefè’s Italian volleyball team called the shots. The third set lost in the advantages seems to be nothing more than a moment of “normalization”, a human moment of a team that expressed a volleyball, for long stretches, stellar. Tactically, once again the Italian service and block were the key: Poland often found itself attacking the high ball, not even the talent of Leon and Semeniuk managed to find solutions against a block technically executed to perfection, especially when it came to tripling. Furthermore, apart from the ace that closed the third set, Grbic could not count on the best Kurekwho appeared to be at the mercy of our defensive wall. On an individual level, among our players, the performances of Lavia and Michieletto, so similar and yet so different, changed the game: with them Giannelli knows he can put the ball in the bank, and he was terribly intelligent in moving the game, at the end of the game, to the other side, where he found a less marked and fresh Romanòwho responded present by scoring the decisive points. Poland seemed less “brilliant” physically, with fewer arrows in its bow other than the talent of its great champions: at a team level, the Italian performance was clearly superior, and this wrote the plot of the match. Of course, this Poland continues to be scary, should it meet Italvolley again: if it happens, it will be in the final, but in the meantime we have understood that they are not extraterrestrials.

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The Italian women’s volleyball team got rid of the obstacle in just 3 sets Türkiyealso among the favourites of Paris 2024 and reigning European champion: the Turkish team, with the arrival of Daniele Santarelli and the naturalisation of Melissa Vargas, can now be considered in the top world, but ours put in the best performance of the summer (VNL win included). A dominated match, whose themes were many. First of all, the 3 best players in the world in their fundamentals played like the best in the world in those fundamentals: Egonu in attack, De Gennaro in second line and Danesi at the wall were practically perfect. Secondly, a extremely collaborative defensive attitudeas a team, with no athlete sparing energy in the extra dive, in the extra cover, in the extra save, which sent the Turkish team into a tailspin: it hadn’t been seen in the women’s Italian volleyball team for a very long time, and in this the contribution of Sylla and the returning Bosetti was very important. Finally, the you change: when the third set was taking an unfavorable turn, Cambi and Antropova came off the bench (systematic double change) and above all Marina Lubian, who turned the set around with her serve. And on all 3 of these points, we must give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to Julius what is Julius’s.: it is clear that the blues had these characteristics before him, but it is equally evident that his arrival contributed to extracting them. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

These two games have shown many similarities, both in the game and in the soul, and this probably depends on their leaders. The identity devoted to common sacrifice, as much as it may seem like a trite and hackneyed concept, remains and will always remain crucial and necessary in a team sport, and our teams, in various aspects, have shown that they have it at heart. Furthermore, the two coaches have focused on another concept that may seem “old”, but is extremely current: in an increasingly physical volleyball, they have put the technical vocation back at the center. They have done it in attack, where our players do not limit themselves to shooting cannons but constantly aspire to the search for the right, skilled, chosen shot; they have also done it in defense, in the technical micro-movements of the wall, where our central players are greatly valued with an exemplary execution. Fefè De Giorgi and Julio Velasco are, in different ways, two pieces of history and two masters: the first one built his Italvolley on the ruins of Tokyo, focusing on almost unknown young players and has already won both the World Championship and the European Championship; Velasco chose to return, aware that his personality could have been decisive in such a key moment for the women’s Italvolley. In a different way, they have in common an aura that allows them to be totally followed by their respective athletes.

And now what happens? We have already talked about the pairings of the Italian volleyball team (hoping that the Azzurre’s one will also happen), let’s try to take stock and see who is left in. In the men’s team, the most difficult part of the draw is the lower one, where Slovenia, Poland, USA and Brazilwho will clash in bloody quarterfinals that will eliminate potential favorites; on our side, the France the host is definitely the worst customer, and we will eventually see her in the semifinals. Surprises among the excluded: Serbia and Argentina in the men’s team are saying goodbye to Paris, but also Japan, finalist of the VNL in the women’s team. The women’s games have too many contenders for the medal, all seriously candidates: USA and Brazil above all (the Cariocas were the only ones capable of beating us in the VNL), but also China, Serbia and Turkey itself, with a request to be careful of the outsider Poland (which still has Wolosz and Stysiak). For sure, however, after these enchanting performances, we can no longer hide: playing like this, the Italian volleyball team has no need to fear anyone, neither the men’s nor the women’s team.

2024-08-04 13:10:12
#Italvolley #dream

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