Tomorrow at 6.45pm at Punta Sant’Anna, Rari Nantes Savona will be the guest of Pro Recco for the first match of the Scudetto final. On Saturday it will be repeated at the Zanelli swimming pool in Savona. Coach Angelini’s training is looking for a title that has been missing under the Torretta since 2005. From that moment on, the Genoese team from Levante made its mark, always winning except in the 20/21 season. The red and whites enter the final after it has always been a two-way question between Recco and Brescia from 2012 onwards. The challenge might seem like a David against Goliath, but in addition to the outcome of the famous biblical clash, Rari Nantes Savona can draw energy from having eliminated Brescia in the semi-final, a Lombard team that beat Pro Recco in the final in the Cup. Coach Angelini doesn’t have flights of fancy or have any illusions, he prefers to concentrate on his work in the pool so as not to leave anything to chance, should “the Gods of water polo decide that it’s time to subvert the statistics”. On the other hand, fortune favors the bold and, almost always, they put themselves in a position to take advantage of it.
Rari Nantes Savona wants to be ready. Angelini is very pragmatic: “Pro Recco seen as a whole is a mountain that seems impossible to climb. But we are analyzing it in detail, we are ‘breaking it down’ and trying to see it from different angles. We saw that Brescia beat them in the Cup by pressing hard. They have the players to do it. But despite playing great they only beat them on penalties. We’ll try to make their flaws a little bigger. If on the one hand we must prepare and remain adhering to our race plan, on the other we must not exaggerate with rationalization. You have to feel positive pressure.”
“This Scudetto final – continues Angelini – was both my dream and my goal. This final is the goal I would have chosen at the beginning of the season. Regardless of the results and how it goes, I am satisfied with how we worked this year“.
After last season’s LEN Euro Cup final, another challenge for a title twelve months later. Testimony of a strong group not only technically but also mentally. “We believe a lot in the work we do. We have a team made up of guys who are very attached to our colors and we are part of a club with great tradition. The Rari environment pushes everyone to give their best. These are our characteristics always, not just this year. I try to involve all the guys in the squad as much as possible.”
The Pro Recco player park boasts the best players around: “When the final is played – continues Angelini -, there is always something to lose. This is the only way to face this double challenge. We will try to get the most out of our resources, fully aware that we are facing a team that has only lost one edition of the championship and two editions of the national cup since 2006.”
Against the odds and against the statistics, but, it was said, the semi-final against Brescia gives hope: “We hadn’t won against Brescia since the 2012 semi-final, when I was still playing. This year we won three out of four matches against them. There are statistics but in sport there is also the imponderable.”
Then, a thought for a city that is struggling to get enthusiastic: “I hope that on Saturday there is a swimming pool that explodes with enthusiasm. Savona is a city that is losing inhabitants and has little community. We notice Rari Nantes in these big events, but we are always there. We have been in Serie A1 since the 1980s and even if we haven’t made finals we have still achieved prestigious placings. It would be nice if we were remembered more often.”
