Italvolley Reaches the Final; Paola Egonu Doesn’t Hold Back: “It’s Like a Daydream”
With Poland now behind them and a final to play against Turkey, Paola Egonu reflects on the journey that has taken Italy to the final stage of EuroVolley 2026 and on the resilience shown by the Azzurre even during the most challenging moments of the semifinal: “Absolutely, now we can daydream. It’s been a long journey, and I’m very proud of the team, especially because we’ve earned this moment. Now we have to enjoy what we’ve achieved and give it our all tomorrow. I’m also very proud of how we handled the match against Poland. We stayed in the game even when we hit a rough patch. These moments are part of the normal course of a match; the most important thing is having the ability to bounce back, and we managed to do just that.” She concludes: “Playing alongside Sylla and Antropova? It’s fun to play with them. Behind the scenes, though, there’s a lot of teamwork.”
The Azzurre’s journey, which took place at the Sinan Erdem Sports Hall in Istanbul, saw Italy defeat Poland 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 21-25, 25-16), thereby earning the right to compete for the continental title. For the Italian women’s volleyball team, this marks their sixth European final in history, following those played in 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2021. Five years after winning gold in Belgrade against Serbia, the national team is back in the running for the continental title at the end of a campaign that, so far, has been undefeated: eight matches and eight wins.
Head Coach Julio Velasco also looked forward with enthusiasm to the match against host Turkey, emphasizing the nature of the challenge awaiting his players: “It’s wonderful to win this way, because I love playing these kinds of matches. Tomorrow it’ll be us against everyone, and I love that. I had a similar experience at the 1990 World Cup in Brazil, and tomorrow’s game will be just like that. These are opportunities that come along only a few times in a lifetime. The girls have already experienced something similar in Belgrade, when they won the European Championship.” The Argentine coach expects a long and intense battle: “I expect a long match; I don’t think we can count on a quick victory for us, and we hope, of course, that it won’t be a quick one for them either. We’ll have to hang in there and give it our all: we’re tough precisely because we never give up.”
The road to the final also took them through the quarterfinals in Brno, where the Italian team had to show grit against Sweden, coming back after losing the first set and winning 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-23). On that occasion, it was Egonu and Antropova who led the team, with 27 and 22 points, respectively, while Myriam Sylla added 14 valuable points. That display of strength had already foreshadowed the mental resilience later demonstrated against Poland.
Even earlier, during the group stage held at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Italy had finished Group D with five wins out of five, including a 3-1 victory over France that secured first place in the standings. This flawless run confirmed the Azzurre as one of the tournament’s top favorites, with Egonu consistently among the top scorers and a team capable of performing at the highest levels. The 2026 tournament also marks the tenth consecutive edition of the Women’s European Championship in which Italy has advanced past the group stage; the last time they failed to do so was in 2003.
