Italvolley fabulous: Poland crashed, Azzurri in World Cup final

The Italian men’s national volleyball team will play the World Cup final for the second consecutive edition: the Azzurri, who in the Philippines are defending the title they won in 2022, beat Poland in three sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-23) in the semifinal played Saturday, thus winning the right to play the match for the rainbow laurel against Bulgaria, executioner of the Czech Republic.

Proof of great personality on the part of the men coached by Fefè De Giorgi, who throughout the match never left more than 5 points of advantage to their opponents and were always able to react to the difficulties presented by the national team that three years ago disputed precisely to the’Italy the world title, losing on that occasion too.

The best scorer for Italy was Yuri Romanò, with 15 total points, followed by Alessandro Michieletto&#8217s 12. Insufficient, on the other hand, were the 14 points of “bogeyman” Wilfredo Leon, a native of Cuba but on the Polish national team&#8217s roster, via naturalization, in 2019. For Italy, this is the sixth final at the World Cup: so far there have been four victories (1990, 1994, 1998 and 2022) and one defeat (1978).

The Azzurri, to reach the finals, first made it through the group stage with two wins (against Algeria and Ukraine) and one loss (against Belgium), then prevailed in the round of 16 against Argentina, in the quarters against the Belgians themselves and in the semifinals against Poland. The opponent in the final, the Bulgarian national team, is in its second overall final, its first since 1970 (3-2 defeat against East Germany).