“We silence Rome!” Unexpected result of the 2023 European Volleyball Championship
Sofia Kolodkina September 17, 2023, 09:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The Italian capital hosted the 17th consecutive victory of the Polish team.
Surprisingly, the Poles easily beat the Italians at home – 3:0 (25:20, 25:21, 25:23) – and for the second time in history (the first since 2009) they became European champions. This battle also became a rematch of last year’s World Cup gold medal – Italy already turned out to be better at the Polish stadium. The medal in Rome also influenced the overall FIVB ranking, in which the winners overtook the Russians and finished fourth.
In addition, Nikola Grbic’s team has the longest winning streak in the history of the national team: it reached 17 matches in the final phase of the European Championship.
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Poland defeated the Italians in front of their fans! European Volleyball Championship 2023 Results
Both teams passed the tournament without defeats and confidently won their semi-final matches: Italy beat France (3:0), Poland beat Slovenia (3:1). And it seemed that the fight in the final was inevitable, and the audience was “stuck” for a good three hours. But the pressure of their own desire and the expectations of the 12,000 spectators who gathered at the PalaLottomatica stadium broke all spirits: Ferdinando de Giorgi’s boys did not enter the match. The bad start at the beginning could have been attributed to nerves, but as we progressed in the game, it became clearer that the Italians had nothing to cover and the stands didn’t help either.
“It’s hard to believe that we have silenced this room in Rome,” forward Slivka said in an interview with Polsat Sport after the match. “Today the serve played a decisive role: we kept them away from the net, caused them a lot of problems and got several points. The home field advantage didn’t work again. “We are very happy because a victory in Italy is doubly pleasant.”
It’s hard to argue with the numbers: the “aces” column covers everything positive that was in the game of De Giorgi’s players.
Match statistics
And as a result, Italy had a failed reception: 28% and 15% positive at first compared to 53% of Poles. For this reason, the Italians’ first line did not always reach the attack and they completely forgot about the first half: only eight points between Gianluca Galassi and Alessandro Russo. While in the rival lineup were Jakub Kochanowski (9) and Norbert Huber – 12. The latter’s same serves shook the local defense: if in the first set he was strangled with aces, in the second Wilfredo León intervened.
The naturalized Cuban became the MVP of the final: the finisher scored 13 points with 45% efficiency in attack. His series of serves decided the outcome of the second set and the match: as soon as the Italians tried to attack, the Poles knocked them down with serves or defense.
León – MVP of the match
Photo: eurovolley.cev.eu
There has never been such a successful year for Polish volleyball. In recent months they have won everything: Zachs won the Champions League, the national team won the Nations League and the Euro Cup. But as the Poles themselves say, the volleyball year is not over: they still need to get tickets to the Paris Olympics.
Slovenia national team with bronze in Euro 2023
Photo: eurovolley.cev.eu
Slovenia, which does not want to leave the Euro Cup podium, is also going there: bronze in 2023 is already the third consecutive medal at the European Championship. In recent years, Gheorghe Cretu’s team has won two more silver medals. With their victory in the third place match, they drowned out the pain of qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: when in the semifinals they also led in Berlin 2-0, but lost in the tiebreaker against the same French. (9:15). If they had won the game at that time, someone else would have become the gold medalist.
EURO 2023 (m). For 3rd place
September 16, 2023, Saturday. 18:30 Moscow time
France: Chinenieze, Grebennikov, Patry, Tognutti, Tiyi, Ngapet, Brisard, Boyer, Le Goff, Bulthor, Cleveno, Luati, Carle, Jouffroy
Slovenia: Paenk, Planinšić, Kozamernik, Toman, Bracko, Vinčić, Stalekar, Koncilja, Kovacic, Stern, Urnaut, Cebul, Mozic, Mujanovic
And this time in Rome, the Cretu boys led 2-0 and again tied the score in the games. It seemed that the French had broken them psychologically: the third and fourth sets were played with only one wicket. But in the tiebreaker, the Slovenians played an excellent game in defense and blocking (12 “covers” against five for the French), and the attackers also managed with the serve. The match was not spoiled by point guard Dejan Vincic, who arrived in the Italian capital just one day before the match to replace the injured Gregor Ropret. He perfectly organized the attacks, which were successfully completed by Klemen Chebul, Tine Urnaut and Mozic. The latter helped organize a good break on serve and lead the tie 9:6. Slovenia did not waste this advantage.
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