It’s never easy to host a very prestigious tournament like the World Championship, so we hope Italy will not sink due to the pressure of playing at home.
We don’t think they will with their final roster lead by 2016 Olympic silver medalists Ivan Zaytsev, Osmany Juantorena, Filippo Lanza and Simone Giannelli.
Final Roster:
Setters:
Giannelli
Baranowicz
Middle Blockers:
Anzani
Mazzone
Candellaro
Cester
Outside Hitters:
Lanza
Juantorena
Maruotti
Randazzo
Opposite Hitters:
Zaytsev
Nelli
Liberos:
Colaci
Rossini
Coach Blengini and his squad have had a lot of time to prepare for this quadrennial tournament they are co-hosting with Bulgaria. Their preparations include some friendly matches against China and The Netherlands.
ITALIA AT WORLD CHAMPS: The Italians are in Pool A with Slovenia, Argentina, Japan, Belgium & Dominican Republic. Since winning the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics, the biggest change we notice from this squad is the absence of their 3 middles blockers from Rio: Simone Buti, Emanuele Birarelli and Matteo Piano. Italy currently has 4 talented young middles lead by Simone Anzani and Enrico Cester. Italy could possible end up winning their pool or at least finish second so advancing to the next round should NOT be a problem. Take note, the further you go the more difficult the journey is to become a WORLD CHAMPION.
Being the hosts is either a curse or a blessing so let’s hope Italy catches the latter.
In case you didn’t know, the last time Italy won a medal at the World Championship was in 1998 when they beat Yuguslavia at home in 3 sets. Also, Italy last hosted the said event in 2010 and finished 4th.
Click HERE to visit the official website of the 2018 World Championship.