Florence, Italy, September 15, 2018 – On Saturday night, Italy continued their triumphal march in Pool A as they recorded their third victory in as many matches, this time edging Argentina 3-1.
Gianlorenzo Blengini, Italy head coach: “This was a very tough match, and we should have been more cynical when we had the chance to secure the victory. We always suffer Argentina’s comebacks. This is a world championship, so every match is a fight.”
Osmany Juantorena, top scorer of Italy: “We had troubles with their float service. We played with heart and determination even when not everything was going well. We cannot do anymore the same mistakes we did in the fourth set, especially when performing at this high level.”
Julio Velasco, Argentina head coach: “In the second set, we made too many service mistakes, and it affected the level of our game as we let Italy take the lead. However, I am proud of our start and overall we made it difficult for Italy. I am only disappointed by the fact we have not claimed enough points this far.”
Luciano De Cecco, captain of Argentina: “We played a great game at this high level, and I can say that we did our best, except for the third set also because of some mistakes made by the referees. We strongly believed in our comeback in the fourth set and we hope to improve again for the last couple of games in the pool.”