Russia defeats Italy by 3-1 in FIVB World Cup men’s championship - Volleyball
The opening match for the Russian team in the FIVB World Cup men’s championship took place on November 20. Russia was matched up against Italy and the contest between the two sides took place in Kagoshima, Japan, where the tournament is being hosted. What followed was a thrilling affair that took four long and exciting sets and kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. After a lively performance by both sides, the second ranked Russians were able to win the match against the third ranked Italians.
The first set of the match saw both teams stay neck to neck with each other the entire way but the Italians managed to propel themselves forwards in the end and seal the deal on the opening set of the game. The loss of the first set did not sit well with the Russians and they were able to fight well in the second set but the Italians were not ready to give up and kept the frame close until the very end. However, the Russians were able to equalise the match by getting themselves a win in the second set.
The momentum generated by winning the second frame got the Russians to start off the third set with confidence but the Italians gave their opponents a tough time and made it hard for the Russians to win the third set as well. The loss of two consecutive sets weighed heavy on the Italians and their performance slackened a bit in the fourth set that gave the advantage to the Russians who were able to seal the deal on the match at the following final set scores: 22-25, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-21.
The coach of the Russian team, Vladimir Alekno, expressed his jubilation upon winning the match in the following words: “I’m very glad to have this win because in a long tournament like this, winning the first match is very important. I’m also glad about the confidence of our players. There was some tension before the game concerning our setter, but I was sure he would improve throughout the game.”
On the other hand, the coach of the Italian team, Mauro Berruto, shared his sentiments in the following manner: “What can I say, but first congratulations to Russia. They are a huge team and when they play like this it is very difficult to play against them. They have improved a lot on defense. But when Russia is playing like that, it’s tough for everybody. On my side I can be happy about our night.”
The top scorer of the match was the Russian player Maxim Mikhaylov as he was able to keep the pressure on the Italians by scoring 19 points.
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