Tunis, Tunisia, August 29, 2019 – In the second semifinal of the 2019 FIVB Boys’ U19 Volleyball World Championship in Tunis, Italy mastered an emphatic 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-17) victory over Egypt to face Russia in Friday’s gold medal match. Here is what some of the participants told fivb.com after the game.
Vincenzo Fanizza, head coach of Italy: “This was not an easy match for us. We did not play very well in some of the situations. We must do better if we want to win the final tomorrow.”
Piervito Disabato, captain of Italy: “Although the result may make it seem otherwise, this match was very difficult. We all helped each other on the court and we will continue the same way tomorrow. We are very happy for making the final.”
Hassan Elhossary, head coach of Egypt: “We were not in a good condition today. The Italians served very well. After playing six consecutive matches without a loss, my team could not cope with the reception of the opponents’ serves in the first set. We could not implement our strategy and that is the reason we lost. I will prepare the players’ spirit for a restart tomorrow in order to win the bronze. It would be the first time for an African or an Arabian team to win the bronze. Argentina are a good team, but we will do our best against them.”
Abdelrahman Elhossiny Eissa, captain of Egypt: “The match today was very tough. They had very good service. We didn’t expect this and didn’t prepare well for reception. They also have very good blockers, so even after a good reception it was hard for us to kill the ball. We are going for the bronze medal tomorrow. After a very good run we had so far at this championship, now we only expect a bronze medal.”