WL 2016
Starting from today (Tuesday, 5th July), until the Monday (18th July), you will have the opportunity to read some interesting info about the teams that will compete at the World League Final Six in Krakow and about the competition as well.
In Pool J these three teams will meet each other USA, Brazil and Italy while in Pool K Poland, France and Serbia will fight for the semifinals.
Check out the competition’s schedule.
Monday (18/07)
10:28 CET – “It is really rare to win 3-0 at this level. This is Brazil. I do not remember when was the last time someone has beaten Brazil by 3-0. Our advantage was that we did not have Olympics on our mind. But, we still earned this gold medal by working hard every day this summer.” said Nikola Grbic
10:00 CET – Read what Ivovic and Luburic said for WorlofVolley after the match
Sunday (17/07)
23:15 CET – Marko Ivovic MVP, see other awards
23:00 CET – Serbia reach historical gold by demolishing Brazil!
21:41 CET – As our journalist on the scene reports, France NT setter Benjamin Toniutti missed bronze medal match against Italy only due to precaution. In a few days, he will start training again.
21:38 CET – How on earth referee didn’t see this?! UNREAL MISTAKE on France – Italy match for bronze medal.
20:18 CET – Bruno Rezende is always trying to motivate his teammates to give their best on every match. In front of the big World League finals in which Brazil will be playing against Serbia, Bruninho left a clear message on his Instagram account – “Together we are stronger. Focus, strength and faith! Thanks to all of our fans”.
19:26 CET – Earvin Ngapeth – “We need to play with smile”
19:15 CET – France have won the bronze!
17:57 CET – Aleksandar Atanasijević is not playing for Serbia in Krakow due to injury, however one of the best opposites in the world is always with his team! “The Magnum” posted this photo on his Instagram profile and wrote – “Let’s go guys, always with you!”
17:23 CET – Do you remember the most epic World League Finals?
16:48 CET – What a moment to perform such a risky spike! Serbia’s receiver Marko Ivović stuns Italy’s defense…
12:06 CET – Check out one of the best rallies this season and definitely the best and most intense rally at the 2016 FIVB World League Finaks Six.
Saturday (16/07)
23:59 CET – Tillie says at the press conference that Rezende makes smarter moves…
23:47 CET – Brazil knock out defending champions France to reach their 15th tournament final!
20:45 CET – Post Serbia – Italy game: Serbia coach Grbic criticizes referees, Italy opposite Zaytsev takes over full responsibility for defeat.
18:54 CET – You can see Brazil’s head coach Bernardo Rezende angry many times during the match, but this angry – not so often! He was even calling referees names. For reason or not?
17:47 CET – Serbia’s receiver Miloš Nikić did not perform warm-up for the semifinal match versus Italy which means he definitely will not be able to help his teammates. He suffered injury last night against France as was aware already after the clash he will probably miss semis.
16:49 CET – Two amazing players and great friends – Earvin Ngapeth and Uroš Kovačević! France and Serbia NT receivers had a warm friendship while playing together in Modena Volley which obviously continued afterwards. Even when they are rivals (like last night) the don’t miss opportunity to hang out with each other before the match. They also exchanged a few words over the net during the match.
Ngapeth & Kovacevic
11:30 CET- Ngapeth posted a print screen of a news from our website, reminding Kubiak on his promises.
11:00 CET – You can’t miss to see Uros Kovacevic monster spike
Friday (15/07)
23:55 CET – Post Brazil – USA match: Read what Mauricio Borges (statement) and Thomas Jaeschke (statement) said to WoV after the game.
22:59 CET – Semifinal pairs and schedule are known! Since Brazil leveled against USA on 2-2 in sets they secured semifinal spot as Pool J leaders regardless to the outcome of the match.
Saturday, July 16:
17:30 (CET) – Serbia (Pool K 1) – Italy (Pool J 2)
20:30 (CET) – Brazil (Pool J 1) – France (Pool K 2)
22:00 CET – Post France – Serbia match: Serbia NT setter Nikola Jovovic says for WoV he is not satisfied with refereeing.
21:25 CET – Serbia’s Miloš Nikić played in the first set against the World League winners France but he picked up the knee injury. We asked him, is it serious injury, he said: “Well, I don’t know yet but it seems that I’m going to miss the last weekend of the World League 2016.” France’s Kevin Tillie did not play at all, also due to injury – “I’m doing everything to recover as soon as possible. I think I will be ready for the Olympics.”
21:15 CET – Antonin Rouzier iss not too happy after advancing to the semifinal and he has a legitimate reason for this. Read his statement he gave to our reporter.
20:18 CET – What a clash in the last round of Pool K! France win tie-breaker against Serbia to qualify to the semis along with their opponents. The hosts Poland are eliminated!
19:23 CET – Volleyball treat! Clash of titans on the net – Juantorena grounds Anderson…
17:17 CET – Micah Christenson shows he has cannon in his arm!
12:55 CET – Before today’s match against Brazil, USA setter Christenson said for WorldofVolley: “I think that we can beat Brazil. Absolutely.”
12:00 CET – Uros explained the situation during the match against Poland
10:41 CET – New verbal sparks – Michal Kubiak vs. Uros Kovacevic!
10:10 CET – Today is decisive day for all teams! Poland is in difficult situation, because all depends on Serbia’s performance. Follow later play by play coverage
Thursday (14/07)
23:50 CET – Ivovic – “We are Serbia and we want to beat everyone”; Drzyzga – “Ivovic, you better win tomorrow…”
23:00 CET – World champions have lost the game against Serbia! They are now waiting for tomorrow’s game
20:45 CET – Post USA – Italy game: Read Zaytsev’s impressions and what Sander pointed out as the main reason for defeat of his team.
20:10 CET – Italy defeated USA in Round 2 to stay alive for the semifinal!
19:00 CET – Polish fans found an interesting way to amuse themselves while waiting for the Round 2 match of their national team.
17:58 CET – Check out how Bruno Rezende tricked Italy’s block with behind-the-back 1st tempo set!
16:32 CET – The players of Italy and USA have entered the court. They started warming up for the match! Don’t forget to follow live play by play coverage of this game.
ITA vs. USA
11:55 CET – Polish volleyball fans have done the same thing like the Iceland’s football fants! Viking chant is coming straight from Tauron Arena! Enjoy
11:07 CET – Italians will play decisive game today! They will meet USA at 17:30 CET and after losing yesterday’s game against Brazil, they need win to stay in Krakow during the weekend!
Wednesday (13/07)
23:00 CET – Poland made a huge comeback against the French tema to score a victory!
21:00 CET – Organizers of F6 made a great performances before each match. Guys in black shoot t-shirts to the volleyball’s fans at tribunes as a present of Federation.
F6
20:22 CET – Poland will be missing their fans tonight… There are a lot of space in the stands…
Fans in Tauron
20:00 CET – Meanwhile, follow live play by play coverage of Poland vs. France game.
19:20 CET – Brazil smash Italy in three sets. Giannelli says for WorldofVolley that they couldn’t stop Brazilians because of their crazy serve. Soon more statements…
18:33 CET – Althouth they are not playing today, the U.S. national team players came into Tauron Arena to watch their rivals Brazil and Italy.
USA team
17:00 CET – Follow live play by play coverage of Brazil vs. Italy game!
15:45 CET – A lot of journalists are waiting for the accreditation. That means that there is a huge interest for the World League Final Six!
Media
14:31 CET – There are several dilemmas that head coaches of national teams which will participate at the Final Six have regarding line-ups. Especially coaches of Brazil and Italy…
12:48 CET – Today, it’s a big day for one player! Salvatore Rossini, libero of Italy National Team, turns 30 on the day when his team opens the 2016 FIVB World League Final Six with the match against Brazil (17:30 CET). Will he have a reason more to celebrate tonight?
Rossini
08:00 CET – Brazil‘s head coach Bernardo Rezende took all 15 players from the wide list for the Olympic Games to the Final Six and will register 14 of them for each match in Krakow. The list: setters – Bruno and William; opposites – Wallace and Evandro; middle blockers – Maurício Souza, Lucão, Éder and Isac; receivers – Murilo, Lipe, Maurício Borges, Lucarelli and Douglas, liberos – Serginho and Tiago.
Tuesday (12/07)
19:45 CET – Serbia are the only team in Krakow who are yet to take a World League title. They did not qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games. Between 2003 and 2009, Serbia appeared in four World League Finals and lost on each occasion. In 2003, 2005 (both times participating as Serbia and Montenegro) and 2009 their tormentors were Brazil, while in 2008 the United States beat them 3-1.
16:10 CET – Fans around the world will be able to take in the epic finale live on the FIVB’s YouTube channel. All 11 matches from the Finals will be available to watch online, with the best rallies and highlights from all matches also available to fans.
15:20 CET – Coaches of Pool K teams held joint press conference. Find out what Antiga, Tillie and Grbić had to say on playing at the F6.
12:44 CET – In interview to our website, head coach of Australia NT, Roberto Santilli, gave his analysis on the teams and players at the F6.
12:44 CET – Some of the teams which will participate at the Final Six already held their first training sessions in the gymnasium which will host the tournament – like France. Mighty Tauron Arena in Krakow looks strange when it’s empty, we can only imagine how great it will look like filled with crowd as from tomorrow 17:30 CET!
Tauron Arena
09:00 CET – Another national team has arrived to Krakow for the Final Six – Serbia. Photos show its players were in a good mood…
Serbia2
Serbia3
Monday (11/07)
22:18 CET – The head coach of U.S. national team John Speraw has picked the team for Rio 2016 two weeks ago and these players will also fight for the gold at the Final Six in Krakow:
Micah Christenson, Kawika Shoji, Matt Anderson, Taylor Sander, Murphy Troy, Aaron Russell, Thomas Jaeschke, Reid Priddy, Max Holt, David Lee, David Smith and Erik Shoji.
20:12 CET – Brazil have arrived in Krakow. Some of the players have used the free time to sightsee the city!
Souza & Wallace
18:00 CET – Ivan Zaytsev about Final Six:
“We are ready to face the Final Six in Krakow. For us, it will be a good test before the Olympic Games in Rio, but we feel ready and confident. Our goal is to deal with the teams that will play for medal in Rio. We want to reach the semis and it’s going to be a difficult goal as we know that our rivals are Brazil and United States” says Zaytsev.
15:04 CET – On the evening when France National Team was traveling to Krakow, Poland, for the Final Six, one huge sporting event was in progress – the final of the EURO 2016 (football European Championship), in Paris. Unfortunately to the French volleyball players and entire nation, Portugal beat France and became European champions but, if nothing else, football France NT had a support from their volleyball colleagues who were anxiously watching the final on their cell phones, while on road.
France
12:32 CET – After head coaches of national teams of USA, Poland, Serbia and France, Italy’s head coach was the fifrth to announce roster for the Final 6. See which player fell off from the wide list!
12:01 CET – Expedition of defending champions France has arrived last night to Krakow, Poland, where the Final Six of the 2016 FIVB World League will be held. Their head coach Laurent Tillie took 14 players which participated in the last weekend of pool stage. He will have a tough task to cross out two players from this squad for the Olympic Games. French media speculate that Tillie will choose between two middle blockers – Lafitte and D’Almeida and two receivers – Clevenot and Lyneel. France NT coach will announce the final roster for Olympics during the day or early tomorrow.
Sunday (10/07)
23:00 CET – Brazil is on the way to Krakow.
Brazilian team
20:00 CET – FIVB presented France as the participants on the Final Six in Krakow.
14:53 CET – Serbia NT head coach Nikola Grbic announces roster of 14 players for the Final Six, revealing the name which will replace Aleksandar Atanasijevic.
13:37 CET – Gainlorenzo Blengini, the head coach of Italy National Team said he might experiment again like he did during pool stage of the tournament and put Zaytsev as receiver!
12:29 CET – Team spirit, two essential words for the success in sport. Players of Italy National Team know they need to build it over and over and there are many ways to do it. One of them is to have a meal together. The night before departing to Krakow for the 2016 FIVB World League F6, Zaytsev, Sabbi, Vettori & Co. had joint dinner in one of Rome restaurants. We wish Italy a safe trip to Poland.
Italy
11:25 CET – Do you want to get an autograph from a star like Matt Anderson? Well, your next chance is going to be at the 2016 FIVB World League Final Six in Krakow, Poland. Secure your place by buying a ticket and increase you chances do meet world volleyball stars.
Anderson
Saturday (09/07)
22:45 CET – There are only four days left until the start of the 2016 FIVB Volleyball World League Final Six and the things are heating up. Recollections on some amazing rallies keep coming. After Italy – USA and France – Brazil rally, check out this one between USA and Bulgaria. OUTSTANDING! Would you like more of these rallies at the F6 in Krakow?
18:19 CET – Serbia National Team is one of the biggest surprises of this year’s edition of the 2016 FIVB World League – Group 1 and its effort was recognized not only from its supporters but from supporters abroad as well. After the match Serbia – Italy during last week of preliminary round in Tehran, Iranian fans were celebrating with Serbia’s players and it was one of the most emotional moments at the entire tournament. Watch it here.
14:20 CET – Do you remember F6 2014 when USA defeated Brazil 3-1 (31-29, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23) in the final in Florence? It was a disappointing end to the finals for Brazil despite the fact their silver medal was a record-breaking 18th podium finish for the side. They have been losing finalists in three of the last four editions. After that match coach Rezende said: “The USA were able to control the game. It was a lesson for us and we are frustrated, but congratulations to them.”
12:00 CET – All MVP by edition: 1990 – Italy Andrea Zorzi 1991 – Italy Andrea Zorzi 1992 – Italy Lorenzo Bernardi 1993 – Brazil Giovane Gávio 1994 – Italy Andrea Giani 1995 – Russia Dmitriy Fomin 1996 – Italy Lorenzo Bernardi 1997 – Netherlands Guido Görtzen 1998 – Cuba Osvaldo Hernández 1999 – Cuba Osvaldo Hernández 2000 – Italy Andrea Sartoretti 2001 – Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ivan Miljković 2002 – Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ivan Miljković 2003 – Serbia and Montenegro Ivan Miljković 2004 – Italy Andrea Sartoretti 2005 – Serbia and Montenegro Ivan Miljković 2006 – Brazil Gilberto Godoy Filho 2007 – Brazil Ricardo Garcia 2008 – United States Lloy Ball 2009 – Brazil Sérgio Santos 2010 – Brazil Murilo Endres 2011 – Russia Maxim Mikhaylov 2012 – Poland Bartosz Kurek 2013 – Russia Nikolay Pavlov 2014 – United States Taylor Sander 2015 – France Earvin N’Gapeth
Friday (08/07)
20:00 CET – Italy is preparing for the Final Six in Rome and every day they have two training per day. Here is a detail from training of Azzurri.
Dopo tanto allenamento … Si gioca! #pallavolo #Italiateam @Federvolley pic.twitter.com/vzQOhRhEk1
— ItaliaTeam (@ItaliaTeam_it) July 8, 2016
18:00 CET – Serbian team had press conference in Belgrade before they go to Krakow on the Final Six of World League 2016. Coach Nikola Grbic still doesn’t know which 14 players will travel to Poland. On Monday team will fly to Poland and on Sunday he will give the final list of players.
Press
14:00 CET – This is how libero of the French national team Jenia Grebennikov is getting ready for the Final Six in Krakow.
Jenia
13:07 CET – UPDATE: The Serbian opposite Aleksandar Atanasijević won’t even travel to Poland. There was a small chance for it, but it’s gone definitely…
10:15 CET – Do you know how many countries organized the final round of the World League? The answer is 10! Italy hosted the World League final tournament six times so far (1991, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2004, 2014), while Brazil five times organized this event (1993, 1995, 2002, 2008 and 2015. The teams went to play final round in Poland as well (2001, 2007, 2011, 2016). Argentina was the host three times (1999, 2010, 2014), Netherlands (1996, 2000), Russia (1997, 2006), Serbia (2005, 2009), Bulgaria (2012), Japan (1990) and Spain (2003).
Thursday (07/07)
21:43 CET – One of the best liberos in the world at the moment, Erik Shoji, is so thrilled to be part of US National Team and to have the chance to play with athletes currently engaged with US roster. He posted a message to his teammates on Instagram before the Final Six of the 2016 FIVB World League, expressing his gratitude: „30 days til Rio! So grateful to be working with these guys. Next up World League Finals in Poland! USA, USA!“
Shoji
19:38 CET – Italy and USA might played the most amazing rally of the World League preliminary stage but let’s not forget breathtaking rally between France and Brazil. Remember it?
17:23 CET – Brazil’s National Team are conducting preparations for the Final Six of the 2016 FIVB World League (Krakow, Poland) in Belgium. When Bernardo Rezende coaches someone, preparations must be utmost serious. As you can see on the photo posted by Brazilian Volleyball Federation, there is a high level of intesity at trainings. A team which represents such a huge volleyball nation like Brazil must be ready as hell…
Brazil1
15:50 CET – Top scorer at F6 is the player who scores the most points in the tournament. Player can score with spike (a scoring attack), block (a point directly made by a block) and serve (a service ace). See the list of top scorers from 2010 to 2015.
12:30 CET – Do you remember this photos? That was the photo of the year which was made by the Serbian photographer Nenad Negovanovic. This was a crucial moment in the final of World League 2009. Serbia was near to win for the first time in history the gold medal. They again played against Brazil, led in the fifth set 8:5 and the ball on this photo was the crucial (12:13 for Brazil). All eyes in the Belgrade Arena were on Nikola Grbić who sett the ball to Ivan Miljkovic. At the end Brazil celebrated 3:2 (22:25, 25:23, 25:22, 23:25, 15:12).
WL 2009
08:45 CET – Polish coach Stephane Antiga announced the list of 14 players for the World League Final Six in Krakow. He made some changes comparing to the last week of preliminary round… See Poland’s roster for the decisive phase of the tournament.
Wednesday (06/07)
21:21 CET – We have the MVP of the FIVB World League, Week 3! Our readers voted in previous three days and they gave the most number of votes to U.S. setter Micah Christenson. It was an interesting race, Ivan Zaytsev was so close…
19:43 CET – Another update from the Italian team. The setter of Blengini’s side Simone Giannelli was heading back to Rome and he watched the tennis game while traveling…
Giannelli
18:40 CET – As we said, France won the World League gold medal in the last year, beating Serbia in the final 3-0. Watch that game in our WoVVideo section, France – Serbia 3:0!
16:25 CET – Italian national team is also getting ready for the World League Final Six. This is a part of the atmosphere from the Italian squad.
Italy
13:30 CET – Do you know who won the most MVP awards in World League history? It’s Serbian star Ivan Miljkovic who was 4-time MVP! Last year, Earvin Ngapeth took the MVP award…
10:33 CET – We will talk about history again. Do you know that only 8 teams managed to win the gold medal. Serbia played five times in the final but have never won this competition. Three national teams are dominating in the World League: Brazil (18 medals, 9 – 5 – 4; Italy 15, 8 – 3 – 4; Russia 15, 3 – 5 – 7).
Winners
Tuesday – (05/07)
20:26 CET – Head coach of Italy, Ginalorenzo Blengini, decided to summon to the Final Six same players which secured qualification during Week 3 of preliminary round. See the list here.
18:29 CET – Polish fans are well known by their love towards volleyball and not only when their favorite club or national team perform. Thus, it’s always a hit when Poland hosts some major event, just like the Final Six of the 2016 FIVB World League. Polish supporters (and fans of other national team playing in the tournament) hastily buy tickets for it. If you wondered how tickets look like, this is how. And go buy yourself one and be in Krakow!
F6 ticket
15:00 CET – Do you know who took the most World League gold medals? The answer is Brazil! They have 9 gold trophies so far. In Krakow, they’ll try to win the 10th crown and they know that won’t be easy. So, as you can see in the picture below, they are practicing hard to achieve that goal. Last gold they won in 2010, by beating Russia in the final. It’s been a long time since the Brazilian players touched the gold medal in World League…Recall that Brazil have 18 trophies in total (9-5-4).
Brazil’s practice
14:10 CET – The Frenchman Earvin Ngapeth has made one of the best moves during the World League Preliminary round. Watch his amazing spike.
12:40 CET – While preparing for the Final Six challenges, #TeamYavbou have informed fans about their products – t-shirts, caps, shorts…It is interesting that Hollywood actor Bruce Willis is wearing the equipment of #TeamYavbou… Of course, it’s only wax statue of a famous actor.
Bruce Willis
11:27 CET – Guess who dethroned them? Brazil! Playing at home court, they managed to take the gold in 1993. But, Italian national team dominated again in the next two years as they won another two golden medals in 1994 and 1995! We have to admit, it was incredible domination by the Italians.
10:45 CET – Lets share some history here. Do you know who won the first three tournaments of this competition? The World League was created in 1990 and Italians started dominating, winning the first three tournaments!
10:00 CET – The Serbian national team gets into serious trouble after announcing that Serbian opposite Aleksandar Atanasijević won’t be able to help the teammates in Krakow. He confirmed the info for our website and he will undergo surgery! That’s definitely a huge blow for Nikola Grbic’s side.
Atanasijevic
To see standings, results, stats, videos, etc, visit our FIVB World League 2016 M page.
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0 comment
I think that Serbia has no chance to win a game in Krakow. Especially without Atanasijevic
@Archibald You thought wrong 😉