ROME-Starting Six dedicated to men’s volleyball in today’s episode celebrates, through images, the achievement by Ferdinando De Giorgi’s national team of the mathematical certainty of qualification for Paris 2024. The Azzurri won the pass in the 2nd week of the VNL staged in Ottawa in Canada which saw Giannelli and his teammates win three more victories, against the USA, Cuba and the Netherlands, in addition to the four won in Brazil, and a single defeat, moreover in the tie break against France. Italy was concrete and always on point in this first phase of the event, showing all the real value of a group that now dreams big. Italy firmly holds second place in the ranking, behind Poland, and enters triumphantly not only into the Olympic Games, but also into the VNL Finals which will be played in Lodz, Poland from 27 to 30 June.
Match&Play already brings us to the third and final week of VNL, scheduled in Ljubljana in Slovenia from 18 to 23 June, which De Giorgi, once the result has been achieved, will face with a team without starters to whom, after having achieved the qualification feat, a week of rest was given in view of the Finals. Against Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Turkey, those who have played less will take the field and will find the opportunity to show off and demonstrate that they are something more than simple reserves. Coach De Giorgi himself, Simone Giannelli and Fabio Balaso, interviewed in Ottawa, expressed their joy at the goal achieved and took stock of the Azzurri’s near future.
First row tells us about what the FIVB decided regarding the pool draws of the Olympic tournament which will take place on the occasion of the VNL Finals. The draw for the women’s tournament will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday 19 June at 1pm CET. The men’s event, however, will take place in Lodz, Poland on Wednesday 26 June at 6pm.
