Azzurri also ahead by four goals, superlative defense, Del Lungo MVP: on Saturday for the gold against Croatia. Campaign: “The boys moved me”
A very fresh revenge, another day to remember. A month after the European semi-final lost badly in Zagreb with an unwatchable performance (7-4), the Settebello beat Spain at the World Cup in Doha and flies to the final for the eighth time in history: on Saturday at 3.30 pm they will challenge Croatia who only beat on penalties a surprising France (17-16, in regulation time 11-11). “It was a really nice sight. The boys moved me, they jumped like crickets in the numerical inferiority. A very tactical match in which we knew how to strike surgically” explains Sandro Campagna to Rai microphones. Stellar defense, more than anything. The coach says amused: “In the pre-match meeting, in the hotel, I had forgotten to explain a movement of the attack. So I chased the boys, but they replied “we know, we know…”. I understood how convinced they were and determined.” For Italy it is the third final in the last four editions, fantastic numbers. The titles arrived in 1978, 1994, 2011 and 2019.
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A bad match, with very little rhythm, against the most consistent team in recent years: silver in the World Cup in 2019, gold in 2022 (finals against Italy), bronze in 2023; at the European Championships silver in 2018 and 2020, bronze in 2022, gold a month ago in Zagreb. At 2-2, a 4-0 break brings Italy one step away from success, but between the third and fourth periods Martin’s team recovers to -1, first at 6-5 and then at 7-6, wasting the superiority of the draw. The score is then set by Fondelli on a penalty (conquered by Condemi 1 minute from the siren with a dribble that brought applause), growling in the face of goalkeeper Aguirre who always tries to unnerve his opponents with his screams. MVP goalkeeper Del Lungo, author of a series of feats. His proud exclamation caught by the cameras in the third half makes us smile: “It’s not always Christmas…” he whispers after having thwarted a dive from Munarriz, the ace who had mocked him shortly before for the 2-2 goal with the same shot. “Marco gave us confidence even with the man less, he was very good” says Campagna. For Spain, in fact, a paltry 3 out of 13 in numerical superiority. Perrone, the thirty-eight-year-old beacon of the Spanish game, at his 12th World Cup, controlled his bogey very well: he remained empty. In the quarterfinals, Settebello beat Greece 11-10, recovering from 8-10, while the European champions beat Montenegro 15-12. In the world championship tournament in Fukuoka last year (gold to Hungary), the Azzurri finished in 5th place. While waiting for the final with Croatia (gold 2007 and 2017, silver 2015), tomorrow at 8 it will be Setterosa’s turn: the challenge for 7th place with Canada is worth the Olympic pass. “Our girls are stronger – is Campagna’s encouragement – and we try to transmit some of our energy. With all our heart”.
ITALY: Del Lungo, F.Di Fulvio 2, Damonte, Marziali, A. Fondelli 2 pen. Echenique, N.Presciutti, Bruni 1, E. Di Somma, Velotto 1, F. Condemi 2, Iocchi Gratta, Nicosia. Campaign Annex. SPAIN: Aguirre, Munarriz 2, Granados 1, Sanahuja, De Toro, Larumbe 2, Famera, S.Cabanas, Tahull, Perrone, Mallarach, Bustos, Lorrio. All. D. Martin. REFEREES: Margeta (Slo) and Kun (Ung). NOTE: top number Italy 9 (4 goals), Spain 13 (3). Exit 3 rows Sanahuja 21′, N.Presciutti 32′.
Unlike the last European Championships, which divided the teams into two divisions, the game is played with the traditional format: the first teams in each group advance to the quarter-finals, the second and third-placed teams advance to the round of 16. TV on Rai 2 and RaiSport.
Group A: Spain 9; Croatia 6; Australia 3; South Africa 0.
Group B: Greece 9; France 6; China 3; Brazil 0.
Group C: Serbia 9; Montenegro 5; Use 4; Japan 0.
Group D: Hungary 8; Italy 7; Romania 3; Kazakhstan 0.
Monday 5: Italy-Kazakhstan 33-3, Hungary-Romania 15-8.
Wednesday 7: Romania-Kazakhstan 25-3, Hungary-Italy 15-14 pen. (9-9).
Friday 9th: Hungary-Kazakhstan 28-1, Italy-Romania 16-10.
Ranking: Hungary 8; Italy 7; Romania 3; Kazakhstan 0.
Sunday 11th: round of 16 Croatia-China 22-4, France-Australia 11-8, Montenegro-Romania 12-9, Italy-USA 13-12.
Tuesday 13th: quarterfinals Spain-Montenegro 15-12, Italy-Greece 11-10, Croatia-Serbia 15-13, France-Hungary 11-10.
Thursday 15th: semi-finals Italy-Spain 8-6, Croatia-France 17-16 pen. (11-11). Saturday 17th: finals 3rd place Spain-France (9.30), 1st place Italy-Croatia (3.30).
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