The passion for sport, everything. Andrea Lucchetta is the quintessential sportsman, even when he stopped playing: the energy, enthusiasm and desire to pass on his passion even to the little ones has always grown. And even the Rome Internationals become the theater to be close to the kids and try to bring them closer to the world of sport. But it is also the way to try to investigate what is happening in Sinnerand looking just a little further ahead at what will be theItalian volleyball Olympics. Italy (both men’s and women’s) is still looking for its Olympic pass but Lucchetta is already projecting forward.
Lucchetta and his past as a tennis player
A past as a tennis player before discovering his love for volleyball as Lucchetta himself says during an interview with Virgilio Sport: “I was born a tennis player, I started playing tennis against the wall trying to learn the fundamentals of the sport. I was a serve & volley player, my point of reference was John McEnroe. I played in all the tennis clubs in Treviso, I was about to rank when I discovered volleyball and so I switched from smash to slam dunk. It helped me a lot but now I noticed that there are many points in common between tennis and volleyball, with some movements that are very similar between the two sports”.
The concern about Sinner’s injury
In Rome the news is always the same, the tournament continues but thoughts always return to Jannik Sinner was greatly absent. The South Tyrolean is suffering from a hip problem which is keeping the fans anxious: “Berrettini’s is a last-minute lump sum. Sinner has never stopped for two years now, he has a problem that needs to be investigated because it will affect the continuation of his season and the Olympics. There’s Djokovic waiting for him. I’m very worried, if they stopped him it means that the situation is serious. Sorry for the Internazionali because we all wanted to see Sinner. He has become a strong, very strong aspirational model, if he stopped himself at this moment it means that something is there”.
The Egonu-Antropova catchphrase
One cannot fail to address the topic of volleyball, especially in the Olympic year. Starting from what has been the catchphrase of the last year and which will probably also be that of next summer: the dualism between Paola Egonu and Ekaterina Antropova: “Velasco will handle the situation as he sees fit, it’s more of a problem than Egonu because now he has a player who can breathe down his neck, a complete player, who can also easily be able to change the role, receiving and spiking. We could have a nice triangulation with Pietrini and Antropova and Egonu playing as opposite. But these are things that fall to Velasco and even more so to Barbolini who has Antropova in Scandicci and can collaborate with Julio to put the team on the field. I think the women’s national team is off to win gold at the Olympics, as is the men’s team. We have two teams going there for gold”.
The Olympic curse
A legendary career that of Andrea Lucchetta, who was part of the “generation of phenomena” of the Italian national volleyball team that won everything, or almost everything. That group of extraordinary players only missed one thing: the gold medal at the Olympics: “On paper it is always the right time to break the Olympic curse. Also last year Italy came to play a European Championship at home for the first time, in front of their own fans and in front of Mattarella and we failed because we had to win at all costs. Now the psychological situation has changed, now we have lost the European Championship. Let’s go to Paris and probably make it this time”.
Giannelli: the ace up the sleeve
Itas Trentino has just conquered the Champions League SuperFinals with Andrea Michieletto, the 22-year-old talent who also took the best player award. But when it comes to Italy, Lucchetta chooses a different path: “Michieletto and Lavia are two quite inconsistent players, with Yuri Romanò having to dedicate himself to continuity. Volleyball is a team game, there is no single player, the single player doesn’t win you the game. It’s teamwork that makes you win”.
And if there is a player to bet on, Lucchetta has no doubts: “They are all communicating vessels connected by Giannelli and he is our ace in the hole. I have great admiration for him, when we won the World Cup he was awarded best player, best setter and we won the world championship abroad. Just like at the time I was awarded best player and we won the World Cup abroad, I was captain then as Giannelli is now”.
Full trust in De Giorgi
The historical courses and recurrences of Italian volleyball, with Padlock that remembers: “When I was awarded best player on the bench there was Ferdinando De Giorgi behind Tofoli and look at him on the bench with Giannelli. I have full faith in him, he has experienced all the situations, even the negative ones, and has made the most of them as opportunities to put at the service of the team. These kids need to keep up on a psychological and psychophysical level”.
