VOLLEYBALL – The Dutch volleyball players have won a great victory over Argentina in their second group match at the World Cup in Slovenia and Poland. The team with Assenaar Robbert Andringa as libero in the ranks, fought against the bronze winner at last year’s Games in Tokyo from a 2-0 deficit in sets and won the game 3-2.
In Ljubljana it became 28-30, 20-25, 25-21, 27-25, and 15-9. The Orange squad won the first group match in the Slovenian capital against Egypt 3-0 on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Iran is the third and final opponent in the group. The best two teams from the six groups, like the four best numbers 3, qualify for the knockout phase.
In the first set, it went on for a long time. The Dutch men cleared a set point from the South Americans five times, but Argentina finished it off with a score of 28-29. Argentina quickly opened a gap in the second set. The team of national coach Roberto Piazza failed to make up for this.
In the third set, the Orange squad fought back strongly, led by star player Nimir Abdelaziz. The ‘Tall Men’ quickly distanced themselves from the Argentines and won the set 25-21. In the fourth set, the Orange kept the initiative and won a fifth and decisive set 27-25. The Netherlands quickly trailed 3-0, but fought back again and took the game 15-9.
Abdelaziz, top scorer with 32 points, was very pleased with the performance of the Orange squad. “This is really great,” said the captain in front of the Ziggo Sport camera. “We had a very difficult time in the first two sets. The service didn’t go well. After these two sets it started to run. We kept fighting, nobody gave up. We were really a team today.”