Tunis, Tunisia, August 30, 2019 – Italy claimed the 2019 FIVB Boys’ U19 Volleyball World Championship title after a 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18) victory over Russia in Friday’s final in Tunis. Here is what some of the protagonists told fivb.com after the gold medal match.
Mikhail Nikolaev, head coach of Russia: “Congratulations to the Italian team! Today they were better than my team in individual technique. It was the main key to their success. My guys are tall, but we need more time to reach a good technical and physical condition.”
Ilya Kazachenkov, captain of Russia, the team’s best scorer of the match: “I think we had a decent performance at this tournament. We just needed a little more to be able to reach the top, but the second place and the silver are still a meritorious result.”
Vincenzo Fanizza, head coach of Italy: “We are very happy, very, very satisfied, everything... I walked the most beautiful road – eight games, eight victories. In a very nice final we defeated Russia 3-1 and we are champions of the world. Our wonderful guys in our wonderful team did a great job. We started preparing in June and during these three months our only goal was to win this championship. Now our dreams came true!”
Tommaso Rinaldi, outside spiker of Italy, MVP and Dream Teamer of the U19 World Championship: “I am very, very happy! I am so excited for this championship title. It was very difficult, but we won, so I am completely satisfied. To receive these individual awards was very surprising for me. I think my reception was normal, but I attacked well. Of course, I have to thank the rest of the team for it. After three months of daily hard work together, my team is the best.”