Water polo: Settebello and Setterosa, world dreams of the Orient and Olympic goals

The expedition to the East brings back sweet memories: in Shanghai in China the Settebello won in 2011, in Gwangju in South Korea in 2019. The last world gold medals of the blue water polo. And there is Fukuoka, today’s headquarters, in the heart of Setterosa: in Japan in 2001 the title that repeated that of Perth 1998 arrived, under the guidance of Pierluigi Formiconi (7-3 in the final against Hungary). The last world gold of our girls. It will be Carlo Silipo’s Azzurri, returning from sixth place in the World Cup in Long Beach, who will inaugurate our new mission: on Sunday, at 9 am Italian time, the easy match with the modest Argentina will serve to break the ice in the tournament which assigns the first two passes for the Paris Olympics. “We arrived at the Final Eight of the World Cup with heavy workloads on our shoulders, now we can only improve” was Silipo’s wish last month. Which he now explains: “There is the right energy and adrenaline. For this group, playing three World Cups in a year and a half is important because it helps them grow faster, manage emotions and expectations.” On Tuesday another pre-announced goal against South Africa, then on Thursday the closing of the group against the solid Greece (“Excellent team to face with determination”), in the match that will define the primacy and therefore the team admitted to the quarterfinals on 24 July without going through to the round of 16 (where second and third will cross). Compared to the European Championships in Split, which closed with the bronze medal, Setterosa presents Veronica Gant in place of Luna Di Claudio among the 15 squads. In addition to Gant, four more will make their world debut: Dafne Bettini, Lucrezia Cergol, Agnese Cocchiere and Aurora Condorelli. “If we manage to have the same hunger as the Europeans – exhorts Silipo – then we can be protagonists”. The podium is within reach, provided you do well even in the phases of numerical superiority, a sore point in the last World Cup appearances. The United States are favorites, needless to say: they have won the last four editions, rising to seven. “Should we meet them along the way, we needn’t be afraid as we will have nothing to lose and we have even played evenly on previous occasions.” The Azzurri, who have been training in Shanghai with China and Canada in recent days, lost the match for third place against the Netherlands in Budapest in 2022 (7-5).

THE HOPE

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Same formula in the men’s tournament with 16 teams divided into four groups, also in this case two qualified for the next Games. A year ago, Settebello was beaten on penalties in the final against Spain, the same rival who beat us on 3 July in the last act of the World Cup in Los Angeles (10-4) and who inevitably starts in pole position. “I hope to find her in the final” is the challenge launched by Sandro Campagna, who celebrated against the Spaniards four years ago in Gwangju (10-5). Monday at 6.30 am Italian debut against France, Wednesday in the water against Canada, Friday China: soft group – apart from France, now a solid reality – which requires seeing us in command. “The debut is usually an unknown factor, also due to the time difference to be disposed of, and to top it off the French are on the rise. With Canada, then, it will be a demanding match on a physical level” observes Campagna. Which calls for dynamism, speed, intensity and adds: “We will face all our opponents with great respect. We don’t want to make calculations of any kind, we just want to win the group: potential dangerous crosses don’t interest me. In recent weeks I have seen positive and negative things, sometimes little aggression for example. Evidently we plan to reach the optimal state in the second week of the tournament. Apart from Spain, keep an eye on Croatia, Greece and the United States. And as for the swimming pool, at first glance it reminded me of the one of the London 2012 Games: the setting is fabulous and the spaces are large”. Compared to the last European Championships, Gonzalo Echenique (then convalescent) returns in place of Jacopo Alesiani. The other left-footed player is Luca Damonte, who has worked hard in recent weeks to recover from an injury. The youngest of the group is the nineteen-year-old Francesco Condemi, fresh from his transfer from Ortigia to Pro Recco, the club that by winning everything in Europe has given us further energy.

AMARCORD

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It was precisely in Fukuoka that Campagna was baptized as world coach: he had taken over from Ratko Rudic in November 2000, he had dragged the Azzurri to an unexpected European silver in June 2001, then the following month he lost the bronze in the final with Russia (7 -6). Head held high, after landing in Japan without two key players such as Fabio Bencivenga (cervical pain) and Leonardo Sottani (cost-sternal cartilage fracture). Absences to which was added, for the first two games, that of the suspended Roberto Calcaterra. The title went to Spain (already world champion in Perth three years earlier), 4-2 over Yugoslavia, the same result with which they defeated us in the semifinals. Other times and other water polo, with a less clogged and schizophrenic calendar. Once again, television coverage is guaranteed by Rai (between RaiSport, Rai 2 and RaiPlay) to which is added Sky (through Sky Sport Summer and Sky Sport Arena).

THE SETTEROSA: Banchelli, Condorelli, Avegno, L.Cergol, Bianconi, C.Tabani, Galardi, Picozzi, Giustini, A.Cocchiere, Marletta, Palmieri, Viacava, Bettini, Gant.

Group C. Sunday 16: Italy-Argentina (9 am Italian time, 4 pm local time), Greece-South Africa (10.30 am).

Tuesday 18: South Africa-Italy (5), Argentina-Greece (6.30).

Thursday 20: Argentina-South Africa (2), Greece-Italy (3.30).

Saturday 22nd round, Monday 24th quarterfinals, Wednesday 26th semifinals, Friday 28th finals.

The other groups:China, France, USA, Australia (A); Spain, Israel, Holland, Kazakhstan (B); Canada, New Zealand, Hungary, Japan (D).

THE SEPTEMBER: Del Lungo, Nicosia, E.Di Somma, Dolce, Renzuto, F.Condemi, Damonte, Cinnamon, F.Di Fulvio, Echenique, A.Fondelli, N.Presciutti, Velotto, Bruni, Marziali.

Group B. Monday 17: Canada-China (5), France-Italy (6.30).

Wednesday 19: Italy-Canada (2), China-France (3.30).

Friday 21st: China-Italy (10.30), France-Canada (1.30pm).

Sunday 23 round of 16, Tuesday 25 quarterfinals, Thursday 27 semifinals, Saturday 29 finals.

The other groups:USA, Australia, Kazakhstan, Greece (A); Croatia, Hungary, Argentina, Japan (C); South Africa, Serbia, Montenegro, Spain (D).