The Italian blockers made some decisive points in this Friday's game
Cuiaba, Brazil, July 3, 2015 - The Italians had to overcome the pressure from 11,000 people on the stands at the Aecim Tocantins in Cuiaba, Brazil, to upset the home team in a thrilling five-set game by 3-2 (21-25, 29-27, 21-25, 25-19, 21-19). Italy’s coach Mauro Berruto talked about the evolution of his squad from the last match’s defeat to this Friday’s victory.
“Today we finally were a team with a good block as we used to be. We managed to score with blocks in all sets. This is our real game, different from the one we showed in the last game. In all group stage games we had a nice block system. Now in Rio what I want is that our team play as well as today.”
Italy’s capitan Dragan Travica agreed with Berruto: “This game was really intense and both teams needed to make a lot of efforts. Today Brazil played a bit less well than yesterday. We have some difficulties along the game, but we managed to adapt. Our block worked well and made some key points to our victory.”
Brazil’s captain Bruno, who turned 29 this Thursday, thanked the crowd of 11,000 people supporting the home team from the stands: “We know that we have some hard work to do and we need to improve our game for the Finals. We have a week or so to correct the errors and come back stronger.”
Brazil’s coach Bernardo Rezende said that Italy were better indeed: “Italy played very well; they deserved the victory. We could not overcome the Italians’ blocks easily. They were really good at this skill, while we did not have a good day in serving, with a lack of sequence. As yesterday, we missed plenty of counter-attacks.”