Giovanni Gargiulo and Yuri Romanò party with the'Italvolley

Giovanni Gargiulo spoke after the win over Bulgaria: “We started this VNL well: it was really a beautiful game to play, and I hope to watch as well. Today I particularly liked the attitudes we had when we were down and we came out as a team”.

“For me it was the first match in the VNL, but also the first official match in the senior national team and the excitement was so great. Wearing the national team jersey is the dream of every athlete and I am clearly happy. I am even happier, though, with how the whole team did and with the victory today against Bulgaria. Tomorrow’s will be a complicated match, all of them are in this competition. Some teams right now may not be at the top because we are just at the beginning of the summer national team season. We will have to stay focused and play our best volleyball.”

He was echoed by Yuri Romanò: “Positive start in this VNL and this makes us very happy. It was a tough game, and we knew it, because they are a very talented team. We were good at containing them: they surprised us only in the second set, when they managed to come back. In the third and fourth sets, however, we were very good at sticking together and then pushing for the decisive stretch that allowed us to win the sets and the match”.

“Now we have to prepare as best we can for tomorrow’s match against Germany. Beyond how they will play we have to think about ourselves and do even better than we did today. A few hours to rest and then back on the field: the VNL has a fast pace, but we know it.”