With Julio Velasco and a rediscovered Paola Egonu, the Italdonne volleyball team rediscovers itself as a winner. The Italians beat Japan 3-1 (25-17; 25-17; 21-25; 25-20) and won the second Nations League in their history. Two years after the feat in Ankara, captain Danesi and his teammates triumphed at the PalaHuamark in Bangkok, overcoming Japan in a match in which they showed off the best of their repertoire.
Effective in blocking defence, precise on serve and substantially perfect in attack, Italy has crowned in the best possible way a path of constant global growth which began on 15 May in Antalya (3 victories and 1 defeat), continued in Macao (3 victories and 1 defeat) and Fukuoka (4 wins), and ended in triumph in Bangkok (1 set lost). For the new Italian coach, Julio Velasco, this is a new success to add to the 5 World Leagues won in the 90s at the helm of the men’s national team, a result also sealed by the absolute record in the world ranking.
“I believe that the team has improved game after game – Velasco’s analysis – thanks to the excellent work done together with the staff and all those who contributed to this success. Then in the general context there are some individuals who have done very well because to teamwork in which everyone knows what they have to do with order and intensity, it is the individual contribution that makes the difference”. “On the block – his technical analysis – we were very good, as well as in attack and reception. On serve then I think we had an exceptional tournament, serving very aggressively but making few mistakes. From an individual point of view, Paola Egonu has done very well, just as Sylla, Orro, Degradi and Bosetti have grown a lot and despite a little physical problem suffered last week, she proved effective in the final coming off the bench. I can say that this is a team victory but also an individual victory.” .
In the Argentine coach’s bulletin board, “the last victory is always the best also because I bet on women’s volleyball by adapting the characteristics of the game and I must say that this extraordinary group of girls made everything easy, for me and for the staff” ” We absolutely don’t want to stop and that’s the beauty of it – the words of captain Anna Danesi – I declared that as captain I would like to sing the anthem on another podium, but already having done it tonight is a source of pride that makes me twice as happy.” . During the night, with a flight departing from Bangkok for Milan Malpensa (around 2.00pm) with a stopover in Dubai, the Italians will return to Italy to enjoy a few days of well-deserved rest before resuming preparation for the Paris Olympic Games 2024.
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