Italy Victorious in European Championship Opener Against Sweden

The European Men's Championship kicked off with a spectacular event both on and off the court. Before the match, Planet Funk performed for an audience that included the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, who was warmly applauded upon his arrival, ministers Giancarlo Giorgetti and Andrea Abodi, and CONI president Luciano Buonfiglio. Also present were the presidents of FIPAV, Giuseppe Manfredi, FIVB, Fabio Azevedo, CEV, Roko Sikirić, and Lega Pallavolo Serie A, Claudio Durigon, alongside institutional leaders from the City of Naples (Mayor Gaetano Manfredi) and the Campania Region (President Roberto Fico).

Ferdinando De Giorgi's Italian national team, as predicted, won their opening match against an opponent that demonstrated good overall quality, led by coach Gido Vermeulen. Italy displayed strong play, well-orchestrated by captain Giannelli, who distributed the ball effectively to all his attackers.

Tomorrow morning, Italy will travel to Modena, the venue for Pool A, where they will play again on Saturday, September 12th, against Greece at 9:05 PM. The match will be broadcast live on Rai2, Sky Sport Arena, DAZN, and streamed on NOW, eurovolley.tv, and rainews.it.

For the initial lineup, the Italian coach relied on Giannelli as setter, Romanò as opposite, Lavia and Bottolo as outside hitters, Galassi and Sanguinetti as middle blockers, with Balaso as libero. Sweden's starting lineup included Ekstrand, Brink, Johansson, Enlund, Link, Ekman, and Andersson as libero.

The first set began with Italy taking the lead, with Romanò and then Bottolo extending it to +3 (4-1). Sweden, however, regained momentum and narrowed the gap to -1 (7-6). Subsequently, Romanò, skillfully set up by Giannelli, scored the point for a 10-7 lead. Italy maintained control of the game, and an attack by Lavia secured a 14-9 advantage, prompting the Swedish coach to call a timeout. Upon resuming play, the set's momentum continued unchanged. After a brief attempt at a comeback by the Swedes, a block by Bottolo brought the score to 22-17. At 22-18, a second interruption occurred due to renewed rainfall, and play resumed after approximately thirty minutes. In the closing stages, Bottolo scored to make it 24-20, and on their third set point, Italy clinched the set with a quick attack from Galassi, 25-22. The set, including the interruption, lasted 63 minutes.

The second set started with the same starting lineup and was characterized by a certain balance (3-3, 5-5). Yuri Romanò energized the Azzurri, scoring the point to go up by two (7-5). As the set progressed, Sweden found the equalizer at 9-9 and then took the lead (10-11). At this point, coach De Giorgi called his first timeout of the set. After the break, an ace by Bottolo gave Italy a new advantage (12-11). The Azzurri then attempted to pull away (17-15) with Lavia's attack, but the Swedes caught up and equalized (17-17) before Italy accelerated again, with Sanguinetti scoring to make it +2 (19-17), and an ace by Giannelli extended the lead to +3 (20-17). Italy maintained their lead until the end of the set, winning 25-21. Italy leads Sweden 2-0. Between the second and third sets, another musical performance by Planet Funk took place.

In the third set, Italy started strong, immediately creating a significant gap of +5 (7-2). The set proceeded smoothly, and at 20-16, Alessandro Michieletto made his debut on the court. In the final moments, Italy, applauded by the entire Arena, closed out the set 25-17 with a point from Lavia. The final score is Italy 3, Sweden 0.

At the end of the match, President Sergio Mattarella descended onto the court to congratulate the Italian team.

Match Details

ITALY-SWEDEN 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-17)

ITALY: Galassi 7, Giannelli 2, Bottolo 9, Sanguinetti 12, Romanò 13, Lavia 11, Balaso (L). Michieletto, Sbertoli, Sani. Not played: Laurenzano, Rychlicki, Porro, Mati. Coach: De Giorgi.

SWEDEN: Link 8, Enlund 9, Johansson 6, Brink 2, Ekstrand 8, Ekman 5, Andersson (L). Leijon, Algulin 1, Berkefelt, Gruvaeus, Von Sydow. Not played: Fransson, Eriksson. Coach: Vermeulen.

REFEREES: Jurkovic, Yener

Set Duration: 1.02’, 26’, 26’ Total: 114’

Italy: 6 aces, 16 service errors, 6 block kills, 21 reception errors

Sweden: 3 aces, 13 service errors, 4 block kills, 21 reception errors

First Phase Calendar in Italy (Pool A)

September 10 (Piazza del Plebiscito, Naples) Italy-Sweden 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-17)

September 11 (PalaPanini, Modena) 4:00 PM: Czech Republic-Greece 9:00 PM: Slovakia-Slovenia

September 12 (PalaPanini, Modena) 4:00 PM: Sweden-Czech Republic 9:05 PM: Italy-Greece

September 13 (PalaPanini, Modena) 4:00 PM: Slovenia-Sweden 9:05 PM: Italy-Slovakia

September 14 (PalaPanini, Modena) 4:00 PM: Slovakia-Czech Republic 9:05 PM: Slovenia-Greece

September 15 (PalaPanini, Modena) 4:00 PM: Greece-Sweden 9:05 PM: Italy-Czech Republic

September 16 (PalaPanini, Modena) 4:00 PM: Sweden-Slovakia 9:00 PM: Czech Republic-Slovenia

September 17 (PalaPanini, Modena) 4:00 PM: Slovakia-Greece 9:05 PM: Italy-Slovenia