The Italians dangled the prospects of becoming world champions for the second time in front of their home crowd.
Italy is once again ranked first in the world in volleyball. On Sunday, the Squadra Azzura won the gold medal at the global championships after defeating Poland in the final of the competition by a score of 3 sets to 1. (22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-20). All of this took place in front of the audiences of the two-time champions, both of whom were hoping to make it a hat trick in front of their audiences at Spodek in Katowice.
The encounter was overpowered by the participant’s zeal and irresponsibility. With only one player over the age of 26 and several talents, the Italians put an end to Polish dominance in this competition, after the titles of 2014 and 2018, and confirmed their European title the previous year, already in the Saucer (literal translation of Spodek) from Katowice. This competition was held in Italy.
The reigning European champions, the Italians, won their first world title in over twenty years after defeating France in the quarterfinals to go to the semifinals. They also link with the wonderful world history of their elders, the “Fenomeni,” which was titled three times consecutively in the years 1990, 1994, and 1998. “Fenomeni” translates from Italian to “phenomena.” On the other hand, this hat trick, who extended his arms to the Poles when he was at home, finally manages to get away from them. Therefore, it is unlikely that they will achieve the same level of success as the Brazilians, who were another team in the 2000s to do it (2002, 2006, and 2010).
Giannelli as a leader of men
Italy was able to rely on Yuri Romano (25), Daniele Lavia (22), and Alessandro Michieletto (20), the trio that progressively pulled the Saucer supporters back to earth in force of cutting attacks, for the entirety of the competition. To these attackers, we must also add the team’s passer and captain, Simone Giannelli, who, in the opinion of his coach Ferdinando De Giorgi, passer of the “Fenomeni,” was without a doubt the finest player in this final. Simone Giannelli is also the team’s leader.
Yet it was the other captain, Bartosz Kurek, who established the tone at the beginning of the game. He strung together sharp attacks and allowed Poland to win the first leg to the beat of the public chanting “Raz, dwa, trzy” (which translates to “one, two, three” in Polish). Nothing appeared to be able to stop the Whites and Reds from the finest player at the 2018 World Cup, who started the second set with a devastating score of 3 to 0. But the Italians were able to tighten the game at the proper time in the conclusion of the second set, winning three points away at 20-20 to lead 23-20, then equalizing the score.
Despite their vast amount of expertise, the Poles, for some reason, appeared to become uncomfortable and eventually capitulated to Romano and Michieletto, who raised their game even further in the third set. Even though the last round was still being contested, the Poles ended up breaking as if they had been defeated. An example of this would be the point lost at 20-17, where none of the three players attempted to restart the ball by throwing themselves. It took some time, but eventually, the Italians were able to rejoice, and the Polish eagle turned white and stopped soaring.