Brazil – Italy
Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende: “We just could not lose, and that meant one thing and one thing only: that we could not make the same bad mistakes of two months ago. Improvements were made, but we will need even more in Milan on Sunday.“
The feelings of Italian coach Mauro Berruto were the exact opposite: “Compared to what we did in Brazil in May, it’s a step back. We couldn’t match their strong motivation and committed too many mistakes“.
The huge performance by Ivan Zaytsev – 30 points with an astonishing 61% in attack – was only a partial consolation for Italy’s 3-1 home defeat: “Ivan was great, but could not survive by himself. Anyway, our physical preparation is projected to bring us to the Final Six in top shape, so a slight decline in our condition was expected.“
Italy captain Emanuele Birarelli makes amends for not being able to stop the impressive Brazilian play in the middle: “We know Bruninho’s setting style so we tried to mark Sidao and Lucas in zone three, but we could not slow them down and left our defence open to attacks from the sides in the last two sets. We could have also served better, in order to decrease the quality of their offensive play, and that is what we will work on in the two days that separe us from Sunday’s match in Milan.“
In a night where motivation made the difference, Brazil captain Bruninho Rezende was the true leader of the Seleçao: “We wanted it bad, and we got it: now we want to play with all the chance we have to enter the Final Six with another big performance in Milan. It was like a final to us, and we played it that way.“
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