The 2023 Men’s European Championship is coming to an end in Italy: all semi-finalists have been identified. Without final sensations, but with the prefix “extra”, the match was played by the hosts of the tournament, so far the best of this European Championship.
Semifinalist couples:
Slovenia – Poland; Italy – France.
Italy – Netherlands
EURO 2023 (m). 1/4 final
Tuesday, September 12, 2023. 22:00 Moscow time
Italy: Michieletto, Giannelli, Balaso, Sbertoli, Scanferla, Gardini, Bottolo, Galassi, Lavia, Romano, Russo, Rinaldi, Bovolenta, Sanguinetti, Mosca
Netherlands: Korenbleek, Kemink, van Garderen, ter Horst, Meis, Jorna, Pluck, Klok, Tuinstra Jr., Abdel-Aziz, Ter Mat, Parkinson, Andringa, Wiltenburg
Ferdinando De Giorgi’s boys and the Euro Cup champions from two years ago could pack their bags after the quarterfinal match against the Dutch. Instead of the legible 3-0 or 3-1, the teams went to the tiebreaker: the courage was taken not only by the Italians, who were carried to victory by the entire stadium, but also by the main attacker of the Netherlands, Nimir. Abdel-Aziz. His inclusions in the first and fourth games almost created the main sensation of this Euro Cup.
Roberto Piazza’s team approached the match against Italy with a clear attitude: “All or nothing: without fear or doubts.” From the beginning they followed this mantra: they took the first game, although an unpleasant incident among the Italians also helped: the middle blocker sprained his ankle after a terrible landing and left the court in the arms of his teammates.
Injury to blocker Roberto Russo
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
And if before the injury the Italians had complete control of the situation (they led 14:12), afterwards they were completely lost. And even De Giorgi’s inspiring speech “Let’s play for Russo” did not move the boys. The Dutch populated actively, without making any mistakes: out of 25 attacks they scored 16. As expected, Nimir also got involved, which was demonstrated by 70% in attack. The second and third sets went to Italy. De Giorgi’s team had a 92% reception and with it a variable attack: the edges strutted: Simone Giannelli carried evenly with Alessandro Michieletto (who finished with 17 points), Daniele Lavia (16) and Yuri Romano (16). Sometimes the very green Giovanni Sanguinetti, who urgently replaced Russo in the center, also got sick.
In the end, it was this variability in attack that helped them advance to the semifinals. Yes, Nimir scored more than 30 points per game again, but his class alone is not enough to do more than get on the giants’ nerves. 2009 was the last time Italy lost to the Netherlands and apparently the Oranges need more time to get revenge.
The rights to the video belong to CEV. You can watch it on the European Volleyball YouTube channel.
France – Romania
Italy’s opponent will be France, probably the luckiest team of the four. It is true that the failure of their rivals before the semi-finals may affect them again, especially against Italy: the French have had no experience in difficult matches so far. The most harmless group with Portugal, Romania, Turkey and Israel, the problematic Bulgaria in the round of 16 and Romania making noise in the Euro Cup in the quarterfinals. This background is clearly missing before the match against the sophisticated Italians.
EURO 2023 (m). 1/4 final
September 11, 2023, Monday. 21:00 Moscow time
France: Patry – 15, Chinenieze – 11, Le Goff – 10, Louati – 9, Carle – 7, Brizard – 5, Tilly – 3, Kleveno – 3, Grebennikov, Tognutti, Ngapet, Boyer, Bulthor, Jouffroy
Romania: Achobanitei – 13, Barta – 9, Calin – 8, Rată – 7, Balian – 6, Bala – 6, Dumitru – 4, Peta – 1, Constantin, Diaconescu, Chicigoi, Kosinski, Butnaru, Lupu
Although Andrea Giani takes advantage of what she has and in the points with competitors from a lower category it was enough. But the Italians, like Romania in the decisive goals, will definitely not falter. Opponents could hold on to both the first and third sets. But first we were disappointed by the uncertainty in the attack, and then Jani’s cunning plan worked, whose guys spent almost the entire third game with a lead of four or five points. She was not the first, whose risk could have narrowed the gap. Therefore, the decision to switch to a glider instead of a power one was decisive: the Romanians did not accept those balls or take them to the net; the French easily scored passes. 21:24 quickly became 27:25.
The rights to the video belong to CEV. You can watch it on the European Volleyball YouTube channel.
“This was our most important match in the first part of the tournament and we handled it well: we played the first two sets and the end of the third as a team. In terms of attitude, intention and quality, everything was good. This team has something more that the others don’t have, but they need to have the right mentality to achieve the goal. We saw it at the beginning of the third set, and when you put that behind you, they are a team like any other.
For me, the semi-final, of course, will be emotional, not so much because it will be held in Italy, but because I am interested in the level of competition. This adds value to the team, it is important for us to reach the semifinals. In the match against Italy I think I will be very excited, because the opponent’s coach is my friend, I have coached many players in clubs. Italy is the team to beat and that is the team we want to compare ourselves with,” Andrea Giani told Le Figaro.
“We cannot say that we accomplished our mission by reaching the semifinals. The mission will be accomplished when we have a medal around our neck: the most beautiful possible,” said Nicolas Le Goff.
Poland – Serbia
The same level and luck were not enough for the Serbs to get “their thing”, taking advantage of the Poles’ mistakes.
EURO 2023 (m). 1/4 final
Tuesday, September 12, 2023. 19:00 Moscow time
Poland: Popivczak, Kaczmarek, Kurek, Klos, Leon, Bednoz, Slivka, Lomacz, Kochanowski, Semeniuk, Zatorski, Janusz, Fornal, Huber
Serbia: Kovacevic, Kapur, Krsmanovic, Ivovic, Kuindzic, Batak, Peric, Atanasjevic, Masulovic, Luburic, Krsteski, Podrascanin, Todorovic, Nedeljkovic
“We need to eliminate our mistakes: there were 11 of them. We need to be more consistent,” Nikola Grbic lamented when Poland lost the first set in unimaginable fashion. Two errors by Wilfredo León at the end (38% of the conversion) led Poland to defeat.
Lukasz Kaczmarek also set the team up by converting two of seven on offense; he completely failed in the battle of the diagonals. After all, on the opposite side it was Drazen Luburic who hammered the balls: 9 of 14 and 64% of shots. Yes, Poland’s technique worked, which helped to use the center much more effectively: Norbert Huber closed all four attacks on the net. Already during the match the Poles corrected their attack and the team’s execution increased to 75%.
In the semifinals, the world runner-up will face the Slovenians, who know how to defeat the red and whites. The Polish team has not been able to take a game from its semi-final rival for eight years. 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 are the years when Gheorghe Cretu’s boys defeated Poland in the Euro Cup playoffs. And the composition of the team has hardly changed since the first victory. This is Slovenia’s strong point: the players know each other very well, they play in a similar lineup, which only undergoes aesthetic changes.
The rights to the video belong to CEV. You can watch it on the European Volleyball YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Poland national team coach Nikola Grbic is still looking for the best six for the final phase of the tournament. “Before we had a complaint against coach Anastasi: he played with the same team all the time… It is difficult to find a middle ground, because now we ask the question: Is Nikola doing the right thing by changing the lineup in this way,” says 2009 European champion Piotr Gacek. “Now is the time to implement your plan and focus on the players who, from a preparation point of view, should show their best qualities in the quarter-finals.”
Slovenia – Ukraine
EURO 2023 (m). 1/4 final
September 11, 2023, Monday. 17:30 Moscow time
Slovenia: Paenk, Planinsic, Kozamernik, Toman, Bracko, Stalekar, Konciglia, Stern, Ropret, Urnaut, Cebul, Mozic, Mujanovic
Ukraine: Poluyan, Mazenko, Plotnitsky, Sinitsa, Ostapenko, Semenyuk, Kanaev, Evstratov, Tupchiy, Kovalev, Kucher, Boyko, Kiselyuk, Shchurov
Both teams played almost the same game. The three Slovenians faced a pair of strong Ukrainians: Oleg Plotnitsky (16 points) and Vasily Tupchiy (17 points) broke the Slovenian defense, and Yuri Semenyuk (6) and Ilya Kovalev (8) helped them.
“At some times there were not enough eggs. Psychology? No, just those peasant eggs. Go out somewhere and hit the ball: as it will be, so it will be. And we are afraid.”
The Slovenians significantly outperformed their opponents in terms of attacking execution (63% versus 36%) and confidently took the first set. They also closed the second with the score 31:29, and the Ukrainians even had a set point. But on the fourth attempt, Klemen Chebul scored the first game, collecting the ball in defense after Kovalev’s hit…
The confident play of the spiker Plotnitsky and the diagonal Tupchy in attack, together with the abundance of errors on the part of the Slovenian attackers (five outs), allowed Ukraine to take the third set. And in the fourth game, with Plotnitsky’s serve, the team gained a good advantage (from 9:9 to 13:9).
“Yes, I didn’t have five aces, but I didn’t need them. We held the serve well. The boys earned points by blocking, defending and finishing. If it came, they were already afraid. Sometimes you don’t need to send it with all your might. You just have to hold on, because people are already standing there and they are afraid: they are standing and they are already retreating,” Plotnitsky shared in an interview with “Championship.”
But Gheorghe Cretu’s team quickly recovered the distance: 15:15. In the end, the Ukrainians led 23:22, but could not put pressure on their opponent: Tupchiy made a mistake on serve, Yuri Semenyuk was blocked by Jan Kozamernik with a block, and then the Slovenians softened the attack of Ilya Kovalev with a block : On a counterattack he scored against Tine Urnaut and took his team to the semifinals.
The rights to the video belong to CEV. You can watch it on the European Volleyball YouTube channel.
The Slovenians move on, Ukraine prepares for the Olympic qualifying matches. “What needs to be recovered? We slept, drank beer and moved on. We are already used to it: we spent 120 days together,” Plotnitsky summarized.
