Bari, Italy, September 15, 2018 – Serbia raised to the occasion and claimed a 3-1 victory over Tunisia on Saturday afternoon. After losing the first set, Serbia decided to resort to star players Jovovic, Podrascanin, Lisinac and Ivovic, and this move changed the course of the game in their favour.
Nikola Grbic, head coach of Serbia: “Tonight I wanted to give a chance to those players who have not had the opportunity to play yet. Two reasons, mainly: to let the regular starting six enjoy some rest while offering the excitement to be a part of the game in this fixture to those players who have not had that experience so often. Tunisia played a match without any pressure and dominated it in the first set, as they took advantage of our shaky start. However, from the second set, I changed the starting six in order to avoid further mistakes, which you cannot afford in this kind of tournament. I am sorry for those who will not qualify for the second round. We earned three important points and this will help us get ready for the matchup with Australia. It is important not to underestimate them, because they took USA to the tiebreak. We want another three-point victory over them. Only after that, we will think about the match against Russia.”
Antonio Giacobbe, head coach of Tunisia: “Today the spectators saw a good performance from Tunisia. My team has all what it takes to be competitive. We must have more self-confidence and take advantage of the work we made during the preparations. The World Championship is a great opportunity to grow from a psychological, technical and strategic point of view. Ali Bongui, who scored 27 points in this match, is an example. He has a great spirit of self-sacrifice. In the next matches, we will try to do our best, just as we have done in this match.”