Italy beat Poland 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-15) - duration 1:29
14-Aug, start time: 17:30, end time: 18:59 - Attendance: 1,170 Italy recovers from first set fright to defeat Poland 3-1
The Italians showed on Wednesday why they have won the World League title eight times, coming back in devastating form after losing their opening set to Poland to go on and take their second match in the final round in Belo Horizonte 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-15 and 25-15).
The Poles took the control in the opening phase of the first set. With a very efficient service, Poland missed no chances in the counter-attacks and stopped for the second technical time out at 16-11. Andrea Anastasi made some adjustments to the team bringing on Giani for Zlatanov and Di Giorgio in Vermiglio's place). The Italian reception improved somewhat thanks to Giani but the attack was not as effective as Anastasi would have hoped for. In the following set, Italy started to read their opponent's play well and could anticipate the blocking - five points against just one for the Poles. That was decisive for the Italians to tie the match 1-1 The Italian middle-blocker Mastrangelo came in the third set and gave even more rhythm to the team that often left the Poles flat-footed and powerless. There were 16 attack points for the Italians and only one for Poland to put Italy in the overall lead in the match. They played out the final set with style and finesse and the Poles were unable to recover from too many forced errors. The Poles conceded with a deficit of 10 points in the final set. /mh
