Italy spiker Luigi Randazzo against the Serbian blockers
Bologna, Italy, June 6, 2015 - The countdown to one of the most iconic matches in European volleyball has begun. Italy and Serbia meet again after the 1-3 home defeat suffered by Italy in Pesaro on Friday. The match will be played at one of Italy’s most famous arenas - the “Madison Square Garden” of Piazzale Azzarita as basketball fans love to call it - a.k.a. Palasport Giuseppe Dozza, in Bologna.
In a sense, Italy face both Serbia and themselves. Italy's results at the FIVB Volleyball World Championship Poland 2014, where the Azzurri took a modest 13th place, still require an adequate response and will motivate coach Mauro Berruto’s crew to an immediate reaction after the defeat against Serbia on Friday. On the other side of the court, the Serbians will attempt to gain further momentum and rob Italy of second place in 2015 FIVB Volleyball World League Group 1.
Serbia rank among the few countries with a positive record against Italy - they have won 14 matches out of 25, and 58 sets against 49 for Italy.
Many club teammates will play on opposite sides of the net: Uros Kovacevic and Nemanja Petric share Modena Volley jerseys with Luca Vettori and Salvatore Rossini, while Aleksandar Atanasijevic will again take on Sir Safety Perugia teammates Paolucci, Buti and Giovi. Dragan Stankovic, Marko Podrascanin and Sasa Starovic will not face their Lube Civitanova teammates, but may bump into them courtside after the match.