Italy
“We are very happy to win the game and move on to the next round”, Italy’s captain Cristian Savani stated. ”The victory gives us confidence that we can fulfill our mission to qualify for the Olympics. It will not be easy, but we will do our best.”
“I felt that our team entered the game with more respect for Italy than it normally should”, Stefan Chrtiansky, head coach of Slovakia, said. ”We did not believe that we could win this match. We made a lot of mistakes and could not score enough.”
Italian counterpart Mauro Berruto added: “We knew that we were facing an efficient team with a fighting spirit. I agree that winning the first set was quite important. Our new target is to qualify for the final. I am sure that we have potential to do it, because I have 12 completely ready players, who can win tough matches and be champions.”
