Paris 2024 Olympics, Alessia Orro challenges the Netherlands.
The words of Alessia Orro
Last day of rest for the Italian women’s national team before tomorrow’s challenge against the Netherlands (5 p.m., live on Rai2, Raisport+HD, Eurosport, DAZN). Julio Velasco’s girls, victorious in their Olympic opener 3-1 over the Dominican Republic, will try to take another step toward qualifying for the quarterfinals in Paris 2024. The ’Netherlands, on the other hand, è back from a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Turkey, in a match in which the “oranje” lineup was ahead 2-0.
The last precedent between Italy and the Netherlands dates back to the 3°-4° place final of the 2023 European Championships, won by the Dutch 3-0 in Brussels. At the Olympic level, the ’only challenge between the two teams was played in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro: 3-0 in favor of the Dutch.
Ahead of the challenge with the Netherlands, these are the words of the blue director Alessia Orro: “To play an Olympiad always gives you great emotions, for me it is the third and I am experiencing it differently from the others. Let`s say that in each Olympiad I felt different sensations. The first one, the one in Rio de Janeiro, was all new and you could feel a lot of tension and excitement at the same time. Tokyo, on the other hand, è was a bit in between, while this one è is the one I am facing with more awareness".
"In the summer we did a great job and there's a lot of satisfaction with winning the Volleyball Nations League, now forò we must not look at what we have done in the past, but focus totally on the next games.
We are a group that has been playing together for so many years and this canò be a strength. We know each other very well and as a result, things come to us automatically, ours è an established system of play. For the rest, as Julio (Velasco ed.) says, we have to think match by match, without looking neitheré to the past, noré to the future".
"In the first match with the Dominican Republic in one set we experienced a drop, però also due to the merit of our opponents who showed a high level of volleyball. After that negative moment, the team reacted with great determination, bringing out character, as well as physical attacks and decisive defense on every ball. This I think is the positive note, because if we had reacted differently the match would have become really complicated".
"Tomorrow we will face the Netherlands, a team we know well and in which there are several players who have played in our league. They are a physical national team with very tall players and, in addition, they express good volleyball, just look at the debut against Turkey. We will have to pay the utmost attention, so as with all the other formations, this è a completely different competition from the others and no one è came to the Olympics just to participate, but rather everyone is willing to fight on every ball. I am sure that Holland will not give us anything and it will be important to impose our rhythm from the beginning of the match".
