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USAFIVB Blog
Andrea Zorzi
Poland will travel to London confident
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 9, 2012 – Andrea Zorzi has said that Poland’s victory in the 2012 FIVB Volleyball World League will give Andrea Anastasi’s team a huge confidence boost ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games in his final video blog for the FIVB website.
Speaking after Poland’s first international gold medal since the 1976 Olympic Games, Zorzi revealed that they will travel to London in good form for the Games.
“They are a very good group, they play wonderful volleyball, they are more and more confident, they have the right enthusiasm and also their fans are wonderful,” he said.
Below is Andrea’s full review of the tournament.
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 9, 2012 – Andrea Zorzi has said that Poland’s victory in the 2012 FIVB Volleyball World League will give Andrea Anastasi’s team a huge confidence boost ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games in his final video blog for the FIVB website.
Speaking after Poland’s first international gold medal since the 1976 Olympic Games, Zorzi revealed that they will travel to London in good form for the Games.
“They are a very good group, they play wonderful volleyball, they are more and more confident, they have the right enthusiasm and also their fans are wonderful,” he said.
Below is Andrea’s full review of the tournament.
Andrea Zorzi
Poland are still the favorite
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 7, 2012 - Italian volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi comments on the two semifinal matches of the 2012 World League Finals in Sofia where USA and Poland shut out Cuba and Bulgaria, respectively.
USA had a good and effective game plan. They forced the serve to create situations where Cuba was forced to attack a high ball. With great digging they created many opportunities for counterattack and converted a lot. The match went to three sets only, but it was close. In the end the sets were decided by some mistakes from the young Cuban players.
With the competition hall once again full of Bulgarian fans, Poland won the second semifinal almost easily. The Bulgarian players strived at their best, but they could not reach the level of the Polish game. Andrea Anastasi keeps changing the starting setter and this time started with Pawel Zagumny. Since a setter needs the time to be on the court, these frequent changes could be a problem, but today everything was working perfectly.
”Now we wait and see who will win the 2012 World League final between Poland and USA with Poland still being the favorite,” Zorzi concludes.
See Andrea’s blog here
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 7, 2012 - Italian volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi comments on the two semifinal matches of the 2012 World League Finals in Sofia where USA and Poland shut out Cuba and Bulgaria, respectively.
USA had a good and effective game plan. They forced the serve to create situations where Cuba was forced to attack a high ball. With great digging they created many opportunities for counterattack and converted a lot. The match went to three sets only, but it was close. In the end the sets were decided by some mistakes from the young Cuban players.
With the competition hall once again full of Bulgarian fans, Poland won the second semifinal almost easily. The Bulgarian players strived at their best, but they could not reach the level of the Polish game. Andrea Anastasi keeps changing the starting setter and this time started with Pawel Zagumny. Since a setter needs the time to be on the court, these frequent changes could be a problem, but today everything was working perfectly.
”Now we wait and see who will win the 2012 World League final between Poland and USA with Poland still being the favorite,” Zorzi concludes.
See Andrea’s blog here
Andrea Zorzi
Poland looking the best
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 6, 2012 - Italian volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi says Poland continue to show the best game of all the Finalists as he comments on the matches of Day Three of the 2012 World League Finals in Sofia looking forward to the two semifinals on Saturday.
As it always happens when there is no real motivation, the match between Poland and Cuba was technically good, but not with a lot of emotion. Cuba is physically very talented, but it relies mainly on individual skills. Meanwhile, Poland is playing more as a team, exploiting all the different capabilities of their players. Against Cuba, Poland was always in control of the game, but it made the little mistake to adapt to the rhythm of the opponent.
The team of USA won easily against Bulgaria. After playing poorly against Germany, they went back to being the usual team very focused on the fundamentals. They served smart, they had very good digging, they passed much better than their opening match and they had Sean Rooney and Matthew Anderson that did a great job in attack. The atmosphere in the hall was very nice.
It will be interesting to see the United States play against Cuba on Saturday, while Bulgaria has to face Poland which remains the team that is showing the best game here.
See Andrea’s blog here
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 6, 2012 - Italian volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi says Poland continue to show the best game of all the Finalists as he comments on the matches of Day Three of the 2012 World League Finals in Sofia looking forward to the two semifinals on Saturday.
As it always happens when there is no real motivation, the match between Poland and Cuba was technically good, but not with a lot of emotion. Cuba is physically very talented, but it relies mainly on individual skills. Meanwhile, Poland is playing more as a team, exploiting all the different capabilities of their players. Against Cuba, Poland was always in control of the game, but it made the little mistake to adapt to the rhythm of the opponent.
The team of USA won easily against Bulgaria. After playing poorly against Germany, they went back to being the usual team very focused on the fundamentals. They served smart, they had very good digging, they passed much better than their opening match and they had Sean Rooney and Matthew Anderson that did a great job in attack. The atmosphere in the hall was very nice.
It will be interesting to see the United States play against Cuba on Saturday, while Bulgaria has to face Poland which remains the team that is showing the best game here.
See Andrea’s blog here
Andrea Zorzi
Poland and Cuba are the favorites to make it to the final
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 6, 2012 - Italian volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi has picked his favorites to make it to Sunday’s final of the 2012 World League in Sofia and thinks that Poland and Cuba seem to be heading in that direction. Almost everything has been decided for the semifinals and Friday’s matches will decide the positions of the qualified teams.
Zorzi shares his impressions from the teams that took part in the matches on Day 2 of the Finals in Bulgaria. Poland’s coach Andrea Anastasi has the opportunity to make changes and to use all his players in a match. Brazil is not in a good shape and going through some hard times, but they will work hard and find a solution to be among the favorites at the Olympics. Germany won but made some mistakes, while the US had some big trouble, especially with the floating serves of their opponents. The final result of 3-2 guaranteed Bulgaria a spot in the last four. So Poland and Cuba will fight for the first place in their pool and Bulgaria and USA will look to top the rankings in the other.
See Andrea’s blog here
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 6, 2012 - Italian volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi has picked his favorites to make it to Sunday’s final of the 2012 World League in Sofia and thinks that Poland and Cuba seem to be heading in that direction. Almost everything has been decided for the semifinals and Friday’s matches will decide the positions of the qualified teams.
Zorzi shares his impressions from the teams that took part in the matches on Day 2 of the Finals in Bulgaria. Poland’s coach Andrea Anastasi has the opportunity to make changes and to use all his players in a match. Brazil is not in a good shape and going through some hard times, but they will work hard and find a solution to be among the favorites at the Olympics. Germany won but made some mistakes, while the US had some big trouble, especially with the floating serves of their opponents. The final result of 3-2 guaranteed Bulgaria a spot in the last four. So Poland and Cuba will fight for the first place in their pool and Bulgaria and USA will look to top the rankings in the other.
See Andrea’s blog here
Andrea Zorzi
Brazil’s semifinal chances slim
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 5, 2012 – Italian volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi says the chances of Brazil now reaching the semifinals of the FIVB World League are slim after their shock straight sets defeat at the hands of Cuba on Wednesday’s opening day.
It was the first time since the 1999 World League semifinals that Brazil had lost in such a manner to Cuba and if they miss the semifinals, it will be the first time since 1998, when they finished fifth, that they will finish outside of the top four in the FIVB’s annual volleyball event for men.
Zorzi says the world No. 1 and last year’s silver medallists were slow and sleepy, not their normal model and now need to beat Poland, ranked 4th in the world, convincingly on Thursday.
See Andrea’s blog here
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 5, 2012 – Italian volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi says the chances of Brazil now reaching the semifinals of the FIVB World League are slim after their shock straight sets defeat at the hands of Cuba on Wednesday’s opening day.
It was the first time since the 1999 World League semifinals that Brazil had lost in such a manner to Cuba and if they miss the semifinals, it will be the first time since 1998, when they finished fifth, that they will finish outside of the top four in the FIVB’s annual volleyball event for men.
Zorzi says the world No. 1 and last year’s silver medallists were slow and sleepy, not their normal model and now need to beat Poland, ranked 4th in the world, convincingly on Thursday.
See Andrea’s blog here
Andrea Zorzi
Bulgaria-Germany match key semifinal decider
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 4, 2012 - Former Italian legend Andrea Zorzi says the opening Pool E match of the FIVB World League Finals 2012 between hosts Bulgaria and Germany will determine who will calim the fourth semifinal position. He also says Poland and Brazil will advance to Saturday’s semifinals from Pool F while USA will be joined by Bulgaria or Germany.
See Andrea’s blog here
Sofia, Bulgaria, July 4, 2012 - Former Italian legend Andrea Zorzi says the opening Pool E match of the FIVB World League Finals 2012 between hosts Bulgaria and Germany will determine who will calim the fourth semifinal position. He also says Poland and Brazil will advance to Saturday’s semifinals from Pool F while USA will be joined by Bulgaria or Germany.
See Andrea’s blog here
Andrea Zorzi
Olympics make World League extra special this
year
Lausanne, Switzerland, June 21, 2012 - This year’s World League is very interesting considering the Olympic Games are just around the corner.
Teams are obviously preparing for that but it has still been interesting to watch.
Brazil have Ricardo after four years and I think Bernardinho is working hard to prepare his side for London. They will be tough at the Olympics so will want to build momentum as one of the favourite teams.
It seems to me that Russia are approaching the World League with the Olympic Games as the big goal.
They have decided to not use all the best players in every match and it is clear that at at the moment they are working to find a balance between practice and actually winning the World League. They have a number of players who can deal with two goals at the same time.
Andrea Zorzi is a former Italian volleyball star who won two FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship crowns in 1990 and 1994 as well as three World League titles from 1990-1992 where he also won the Most Valuable Player award at both the 1990 and 1991 editions. He was also a silver medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and won the 1989 European Championship in a career which spanned 325 matches. After retiring in 1998, he collaborated with a number of important Italian TV networks as well as international newspapers as a journalist.
Lausanne, Switzerland, June 21, 2012 - This year’s World League is very interesting considering the Olympic Games are just around the corner.
Teams are obviously preparing for that but it has still been interesting to watch.
Brazil have Ricardo after four years and I think Bernardinho is working hard to prepare his side for London. They will be tough at the Olympics so will want to build momentum as one of the favourite teams.
It seems to me that Russia are approaching the World League with the Olympic Games as the big goal.
They have decided to not use all the best players in every match and it is clear that at at the moment they are working to find a balance between practice and actually winning the World League. They have a number of players who can deal with two goals at the same time.
Andrea Zorzi is a former Italian volleyball star who won two FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship crowns in 1990 and 1994 as well as three World League titles from 1990-1992 where he also won the Most Valuable Player award at both the 1990 and 1991 editions. He was also a silver medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and won the 1989 European Championship in a career which spanned 325 matches. After retiring in 1998, he collaborated with a number of important Italian TV networks as well as international newspapers as a journalist.