Florence, Italy, September 18, 2018 – Italy came back from the loss of the first set to edge Slovenia 3-1 and keep a clean record in Pool A where they have recorded five wins in as many matches. Their journey will now continue in Milan.
Gianlorenzo Blengini, Italy head coach: “It was very important to win today, because of the formula of this World Championship. Slovenia serve both jump and float very well, so it was necessary to have confidence and be able to play even with the ball far from the net. We look forward to playing the Netherlands, Russia and Finland in the next round and we take it one match at a time.”
Ivan Zaytsev, captain of Italy: “I am happy we finished Pool A undefeated which is fundamental for the rest of the tournament; we were good to play in an appropriate way at the different stages of the game; even in the first set when they played at a very high level, we did not get nervous and later we improved the quality of our performance.”
Slobodan Kovac, Slovenia head coach: “We knew it would have been tough versus the hosts and their fans. We started in the best way, however from the second set onward they improved their game while we made too many mistakes. We move on knowing that we can play at the same level as any opponent.”
Tine Urnaut, captain of Slovenia: “It was a great experience to play in this sports hall with so many passionate fans. Apart from the first set, today we did not perform very well when we had a few chances to play with good reception. And it was hard to develop a good side-out with the ball often far from the net. Italy deserved the victory.”