Volleyball World Cup, the Brazil-Italy semi-final is Gabi against Egonu

From our correspondent Gian Luca Pasini

13 October
– Apeldoorn (Holland)

It will be their last challenge as opponents, in fact, in a few days they will be together again, but as teammates, with the shirt of Vakifbank in Istanbul coached by Giovanni Guidetti. The super-team that in the last season won everything (Champions and Club World Cup) thanks also to the feats of Gabi, the Brazilian spiker who was the strong point of the Turkish battleship. In international successes you have always had the better of Paola Egonu’s Imoco Conegliano.

Squad

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Even if volleyball is the team sport par excellence (not only for a technical question and the history of the three “passes” with three players involved) the world semifinal between Italy and Brazil, tonight at 8 pm, will also be a confrontation between Paola and Gabi. Even if in different roles they are the main scorers of the two national teams. Receiver hitter and with more experience (including personal data) the Brazilian, opposite or pure bomber Paola who only at the beginning of her volleyball path had been started in the other role. There are those who say that if she had continued in that technical theory of receiving spiker she would have become even stronger and more complete (for example in defense and on the wall), there are no counter-proofs and Paola is the hammer she is, having attacked tons of balls . There is no doubt that if Brazil has made it this far in the World Cup it is above all due to its captain who more than once took charge of the team, not only technically and as crushed balls, but also as leadership on the field in this. difficult summer for Brazil. Gabi is a balance player who doesn’t always have to hit large quantities of balls (which for example did not happen to her in the Istanbul club). In the national team, things changed a bit when Zé Roberto’s team found themselves without a pure bomber (who is defined as the opposite of the setter). The coach has “invented” Tainara, who was born a spiker, diagonally with the director Macris. The absences of Brazil in this World Cup (for various reasons three of them gave up the call-up) forced the coach to revolutionize the team again and entrust Gabi with much more offensive responsibilities, which also happened in the incredible quarter-final match against Japan. where the 28-year-old hammer stopped his points counter at 25. The best scorer of the game, the one who never went down, despite the swirl of changes put in place by Zé Roberto. Gabi was also the best in the match in Rotterdam, when the Brazilians inflicted Italy’s only defeat in this World Cup (at least so far). On that occasion all the Brasilia media had pointed the finger on the fact that Gabi had won the first round on Egonu. Not just in numbers. Paola on that occasion was not the spiker we have come to know, staining her performance with many, too many mistakes. Precisely the numerous mistakes (balls out in attack and incorrect jokes) had made Egonu comment (with South American journalists) that that was the reason for Brazil’s victory. Such a joke had sparked (as often happens) a controversy in South America, so much so that in order not to be misunderstood Egonu had gone to explain to Zé Roberto, who among other things agreed with the version of the blue.

Pride

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Proud as she is Paola had been keen to give her version to the three-time Olympic champion coach. But it is certain that even this presumed or real rivalry will have a weight in the challenge today. Paola is someone who thrives on challenges, like so many champions. It happened so often in the past when she was compared to the Serbian striker Boskovic, it happened so many times in matches with China when on the other side of the net was the spiker Zhu, the beacon of the Asian national team until last year. It happened this year with Isabelle Haak, the Swede who was loaded with the highest number of balls in attack in the Vakif and who will take her place in the Conegliano team in the championship that will be presented in Milan next week (Wednesday 19). «They are two references for the respective teams. In her role, Paola can play even more balls in attack than those played by Gabi – comments Davide Mazzanti, the Italian coach -. The Brazilian is obviously a somewhat different player in the Brazilian economy. They are two very large and it will be nice to see them against. And see them together in a few weeks together in the club ». Waiting for that day Paola has an account to settle with history and so far at the World Cup we have not seen her at the maximum she is capable of. Will the challenge with Gabi and Brazil galvanize you?