Milan, Italy, September 21, 2018 – Italy extended their winning streak, much to the delight of a partisan home crowd in Milan, as they beat Finland 3-0 on Friday to make it six wins in a row in the competition they are hosting together with Bulgaria. On Saturday, the Azzurri go for the ‘big match with Russia.
Massimo Colaci, libero of Italy: “We played a good game but we can play even better. Finland were able to cause troubles to us in the first two sets but after that, we were able to find our game and we played extremely good in the third. We know with Russia we cannot make any mistakes since they are a very strong team, but we have on our side a fantastic group of supporters who are really giving us a reason to do better with each match.”
Gianlorenzo Blengini, coach of Italy: “Finland is physically strong and an important opponent. We prepared everything in detail but every game is a different story. I also had to let Filippo Lanza rest for a problem to his knee, but we hope to have him back for the coming days. Tomorrow we face Russia, but we are ready. Tournaments this long are always difficult, and the teams that move ahead are the ones that can overcome these difficult moments. We must take it one game at a time.”
Tuomas Sammelvuo, coach of Finland: “We started playing really well, we were defending everything and serving well, but then we lost strength and consistency especially in our spikes and this is why the course of the match changed. Now we start to focus on the next match against the Netherlands. We are very motivated, everything is still possible.”
Eemi Tervaportti, captain of Finland: “Italy was the team that we expected but I think that in the first sets we had our chances but we made too many mistakes with our service. After the first and second sets, they simply became too powerful for us. In the third set, the gap was too wide and we had no longer the strength to attempt a comeback. However, this is volleyball, one wins and the other one loses. We enjoyed playing in front of such a crowd. Tomorrow we return to the court against the Netherlands, and we will start again from zero.”