Italy beat Venezuela 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-18) - duration 1:19
07-Jul, start time: 20:30, end time: 21:49 - Attendance: 3,400 Rhapsody in Blue for Italy against Venezuela
Italy wrapped up a good weekend in Intercontinental Round of the World League with a second victory over Venezuela to give the team a clean sweep of the four matches so far absolved. Their 3-0 victory on Sunday meant that the allowed the visiting Venezuelans to take only one set in the tie, in Saturday's match. The Italians appear to be in top form as they lay the groundwork to recapture the World League title in 2002, stolen at the last minute from them last year by Brazil. But although they were effective on the attack and in blocking, they were occasionally less than effective receivers. Gombini and setter both performed well, and Zlatanov slammed home some important points. The Venezuelans did manage to take the lead biefly, going up 6-2, before Italy pulled back to level at 10-10. Venezuela again took the lead to 13-12 but the "Azzurri" found their form and seized control. It was Casoli who had the honor of scoring the point to 25-19: Venezuela led briefly in the second set, but the third was a Rhapsody in Blue for the Squadra Azzurri, who coasted to victory without any difficulty. /mh
