At the European Championships in Sweden, fifth consecutive victory for Velasco’s team who lost the first set of the tournament but made no mistakes in the decisive moments. Now we have one between Greece, Bulgaria and Ukraine
Five out of fiveeven if the last one wasn’t as easy as the others. But the blues of Italvolley they continue their journey at the European Championships in Sweden and with victory 3-1 over France they finish the group in first place with full points, to the detriment of the French, the first to take a set away from the Velasco girls. Qualification for the round of 16 had already been secured, now in the first direct elimination match we will meet one of Greece, Bulgaria and Ukraine.
The match
The first set was evenly matched until 18-17 when the French spiker Bah was injured. France has a blackout and the Italians score a 7-2 run closing the set. Ratahiry gives France the strength to come back in the second set in which the French team runs away and consolidates the lead thanks to the physical exuberance of the opposite Depie (8 points in the second set). In the third set Depie is still dominant and puts the blue wall in difficulty, but down 14-11 Italy reacts and after a disputed point awarded on video to Velasco’s team they go 5-0 and close the set in their favour. Still down 16-13, the Italians, after a time out by Velasco, scored a sensational 6-0 and oriented the set and the match in their favor.
Velasco’s analysis
At the end of the game Julio Velasco he commented on the victory over France thus: “I have always preached one thing: you have to know how to play badly. When things don’t go very well, you have to know how to play anyway and find answers.” Then on the difficulty of the match: “We can’t expect to always take the lead, it would be a sin of presumption. Being humble means expecting that any opponent can put us in difficulty.”
