After the great experience of the 2007 Andrea Zorzi, one of the world’s most famous Volleyball players, will keeps cooperating with the FIVB as a freelance journalist and technical commentator, covering the 2008 FIVB top events as a special endorser and web content creator.

In the next months FOLLOW ME (Watch here ) will focus on:

the World Grand Prix 9-13 July in Yokohama (JPN)
the World League 23-27 July Rio de Janeiro (BRA) and
the Olympic Games 8-24 August in Beijing


- A different kind of approach to the games info, more multimedia oriented: one video interview and one commentary by Zorzi after each competition day, uploaded few minutes after the last match.
- A different perspective of the interviews, helped both by Zorzi’s personality and his plain approach to the players.
- A more technical broadening, which hopefully will help the spectators to better understand the key to each match (strategy, tactics, mental approach).

See you soon

03 December 2007 
Tokyo (Japan)

People. Thousands. From all over the world. Sweat. Fears. Joy. Tears. Determination. Defeats. Victories. Dreams. Passion. Life.

In the middle of all this I was. And here you all were, even though not physically.

My eyes - your eyes. My ears - your ears. My emotions - your emotions.

The curtain now drops.

Honoured for having being your storyteller of emotions.

Thank you all. For your affection. For your support. For your enthusiasm.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

See you next year. Sharing once more with you an extraordinary journey.


And just before leaving I offer you

The VOICES OF 2007 WORLD CUP 
(Clic here or over the picture above)

and

The VOICES of Dr. Rubén Acosta H. and Mme Malù Acosta.
(Clic here or over the picture below)



Un grande abbraccio (a big hug)

Bye bye andrea zorzi

Tokyo (Japan)

As I did at the end of the Women World Cup today, just before leaving Japan, I’ll give an evaluation about the teams that participated at the 2007 Men’s World Cup.

Below you can see the final standings and, on the right, my personal judgment on the teams’ performances.

+ means that they played BETTER than I expected

= means that they played EXACTLY as I expected

- means that they played WORSE than I expected


* During the 2007 World Cup, I didn’t see any match of Spain, Puerto Rico and Egypt because I was following the other Group. Therefore, my judgment on this three teams, relies only on the results and few images I have watched in television.

Of course, if anyone of you disagree with my opinion, be so kind to send your reasons by e-mail (mailto Andrea Zorzi)

Yesterday, as soon as Brazil got the qualification to the next Olympic Games winning with Russia, I wrote my opinion about this amazing and extraordinary teams (CLIC HERE).

Today I focus on the other three teams that fought until the end to earn the remaining two berths to Beijing.


BULGARIA

After eight years, Bulgaria comes back to the Olympic Games. They have participated at this 2007 World Cup thanks to a Wild Card and they exploited this opportunity at best.
Against Argentina, they easily won showing their usual skills in serving and attacking. Now, they have to improve their approach to the game enhancing their consistency and enthusiasm avoiding any lapsing concentration. If they will succeed, they could actually be considered one of the favorite teams in the next Olympic Games.

And to explain which is the feeling of Bulgarians fans I publish an e-mail I received yesterday.


…I just want to share my opinion about the Bulgarian team performance and the Bulgarian people perception of it. For me personally, this team is an inspiration for all the people who are fighting here everyday to achieve their goal. Yes, we are a small country and that is why such a team make us very proud of them!
When the guys won the third place in the 2006 World Championship, there was a special ceremony, where they were awarded by the President of Bulgaria. But I think the best reward was the hall, standing up and making noise trying to express their gratitude! I will never forget that evening, nor the guys' faces.
Yes, the audience, the people, the national anthem....all of this might add even more pressure, especially on the young players, but this is how a great player is growing up - most of all as a national fighter, a real lion. And I think this is the difference between our Football and our Volleyball - the Volleyball players are far from the money making machines brains and that is why we love them and support them, no matter whether they are losing or winning.
…about the interview with Matey Kaziyski! We are almost at the same age....and one more time I would say that he, the guys, the team, the spirit are an example and an inspiration for all the young people in our developing country!

A Bulgarian Volleyball fan


Russia

Before the match they were unconfident after two defeats in a row. During the fourth set, when US team was leading 2-1 sets, they were unquestionably scared. At that point, one more time the serve was the Russian key to the victory.
They got the qualification to Beijing, but they played by far under their possibilities. They seem unable to play balancing the different fundamentals and lost, when a rally lasts more than the time necessary to pass, set and hit.
In Russia, the FIVB motto “Keep the ball flying” is totally unknown.
The Russian coach Alekno risks to be sacked because of the poor Russian performances as a team, though he leaded his team to the second place in this World Cup.
They will play the Olympic Games but if they want to fight for the gold medal, they have to change their path quickly.


U.S.A.

I have a high respect for the US Volleyball team. As I have already written many times, McCutcheon’s team is standard talented, but their remarkable ability to take advantage of any situation make them a model to follow. They are patient when necessary, fully motivated in digging and never give up. During the match, you’ll never see an American player with a discouraged expression. Until the very last point, they are thoroughly focused on the game and when they leave the court, as happened today after the defeat with Russia, they can be displeased but without any regret.

Bye bye andrea zorzi

Tomorrow I’ll fly back to Italy and FOLLOW ME will stop until the next International tournament, but before leaving, I have prepared a surprise for all of you.

See you tomorrow.

In this post you find the of video interview to:


Rafael Pascual

ESP Spiker

I asked the following questions:

1. Let’s start from your I.C.
2. Would you describe your family?
3. Are you still very close to your family?
4. …and what about your wife and sons?
5. After playing in many different countries, what are you keeping with you?
6. You are a symbol of World Volleyball.
7. You always played with great enthusiasm.
8. Which is the best memory of your career?
9. …and which is the most important victory of your career?
10. Now you can retire…
11. What about your future?
12. What do you like most in Volleyball?
13. And technically?
14. Is there any “more important” coach in your career?
15. Have you any favourite player?
16. What would you have done if you hadn’t been a Volleyball Player?
17. …but being constantly competitive is dangerous!
18. What do you think about this 2007 World Cup?
19. Please could you say goodbye to everybody.



To watch the video clic HERE or over the picture above

Bye bye andrea zorzi

Tokyo (Japan)

In the first commentary I posted for 2007 Men’s World Cup, I promised you that I would have written more about Ricardo missing.

The first unanswered question was:

Brazil, the dominator of the Volleyball world since 2002, has to face a great loss. The Brazilian setter, after an harsh argument with Bernardinho was excluded from the team. Will South American squad be able to overcome the significant absence of their setter?


The obvious answer is yes.

The Brazilians overcame fantastically the former captain’s absence, keeping on playing an extraordinary Volleyball distinguished by their typical amazing enthusiasm.
Today overwhelming the Russian team, they could very likely win the 2007 World Cup. Brazilians performed once more exciting, fast and funny Volleyball.
They still are, by far, the strongest team in the World.



To better understand what happen within the South Americans team and how they are managing the situation, take a look at the interview with Gustavo posted today (CLIC HERE).

Afterward I was still interested to hear the Bernardinho’s opinion, so I asked him four questions.

Obviously, the first was concerning Ricardo.

“What hurts me more is that this story seems a fight between me and Ricardo and everybody is waiting for the winner. Almost all the Brazilian media prefer describing this situation as a duel between Ricardo and me. They consider a such battle more interesting for the audience than telling the truth.
I think that I have failed as group leader because of the lost of Ricardo. I still would have liked very much working with him but it wasn’t possible. Eight years ago, when nobody were trusting in him, I betted on Ricardo and now I feel this as a personal defeat. "

How can a winning team last?

"I don’t know exactly but I hope seven or eight years. Out team was born long time ago and we have to replace many important players like Nalbert or Giovane. We built a strong team sharing the same values, manners and starting every time from scratch.
Everybody has to respect the moral principles and no one can consider himself more important than the team. After the 2004 Olympic games gold medal it was really tough to start again, but we succeeded.
After the first very important victories, the biggest problem was to overcome the changing environment around the team.
If the players change their attitude loosing the firm discipline the winning squads suddenly disappear."

Nothing new in these Bernardinho’s words, but do try to maintain, as they are doing, the same approach after 5 years of winning streak!

Your son become the second setter of Brazilian National team after Ricardo left.

"I feel a weird emotion, a mix of joy and suffering. It would have been easier not to call him, avoiding any nepotism (favoritism shown to relatives) charge.
Renan Dal Zotto, a very close friend of mine, now coaching in Italy, suggested me to undress the father role off and to act only as a coach. But ultimately, the most important thing is the team approval: they wouldn’t have ever accepted Bruno, my son, if he hadn’t deserved."

Will you coach forever?

"My little daughter asked me the same question few days ago during the train travel coming to Tokyo. My wife answered first: “yes, your father will coach forever!”
I think that I’ll quit with National team after the 2008 Olympic Games but I’ll keep coaching a club as long as possible."


I have nothing else to add.
It’s better to watch the Brazilians playing, supporting each other, hugging, celebrating each point to understand the authentic meaning of team spirit.

My warmest congratulations to you all. Once more you have been the best.

Bye bye andrea zorzi

In this post you find the of video interview to:


Gustavo Endres

BRA Middle blocker 

I asked the following questions:

1. When and where were you born?
2. At the beginning it was not easy.
3. Who was your first coach?
4. Were you talented since the beginning?
5. You and your wife are very close.
6. How do you feel playing with your brother Murilo?
7. Which is the secret f Brazilian team?
8. What about the missing of Ricardo?
9. Your coach Bernardinho is very special..
10. Which is the most important victory of your career?
11. Have you any dream?
12. What about your future?
13. Could you decide to live out of Brazil in the future?
14. When you are out of Brazil, what do you miss more?
15. How do you spend your spare time off the Volleyball?


To watch the video clic HERE or over the picture above

Bye bye andrea zorzi

I beg your pardon.


I received many kind messages regarding the wrong way I wrote the Kaziyski name.


I do apologize because, being a former athlete myself, I know how much irritating is this mistake.


Please keep sending messages if you find further errors


Thanks bye bye andrea zorzi

Tokyo (Japan)

The technical Volleyball language divides the court in 6 different areas.

In Italy we call the six areas as follows:

P1 - P2 - P3 - P4 – P5 – P6.


On the right you can see where the different positions are.


The letter P belongs to “Palleggiatore” which in Italian means setter. When a team is in P1, means that, at the beginning of the rally, the setter has to be in that specific position. The numbering from P1 to P6 follow the anticlockwise rotation.


Today, I discovered that the only country that doesn’t use this system is the United States. They follow the clockwise numeration. They also start numbering from our P1 called R1 (Rotation 1) but then, our P6 is their R2 and so on.

I introduced this information to better explain the tendency of Khamuttskikh (the Russian setter) in P3 and P6.
The Bulgarian statisticians found that in those two rotations, Khamuttskikh has a clear tendency to set many times Quick (a front row attack) or Pipe (a back row attack).

Although the Bulgarian block was very watchful of Russian quick attacks, the two Russian middle blockers, Alexander Volkov and Alexey Kuleshov, scored 21 points in total: the first killed 12 attacks, 1 block and 1 ace and the second 9 attacks and 3 blocks.
This is a good achievement, especially comparing with the 13 Bulgarian points won by the two middle blockers Evgeni Ivanov and Krasimir Gaydarski.

But the Bulgarian swing hitters Kaziyski, Aleksiev, Nikolov and Konstantinov, who replaced Aleksiev during the fourth set to exploit his passing skills better, played better than Russian side attacker.

Moreover, the Bulgaria setter Zhekov seemed more confident than in the previous matches. In the last two days, Martin Stoev (the coach) and Konstantinov (the captain) talked long with the setter, convincing him the all the Bulgarian team players trust in his skill. This is exactly what the young setter needs: feeling the team supporting him.

Last but not least, I think that Salparov, the libero, performance was outstanding. I’m not supported by the statistics (he finished with a poor 41% positive passing average) but in the fifth set he succeeded to “save” many very quick services. Actually, the average is low but in this case the numbers don’t say the deep truth.

During the press conference after the match, Poltavskiy, the Russian opposite hitter, blamed himself for the defeat. He scored 20 points finishing with 49% of kill attack average (so and so!).

Immediately afterwards, the coach Alekno upheld his spiker, saying that a player never can be considered responsible for a team defeat.

As a matter of fact, Bulgarian planned blocking Poltavskiy leaving a slight space on the line. Many times Khamuttskikh set a little short to the right of the net, that means that the ball doesn’t arrive close to the antenna and hitting along the line is impossible. The result is that Poltavskiy seems responsible for many errors but the responsibility has to be shared with the setter.

And now I beg your pardon, because two days ago I betted on Russia and I was wrong: when I’ll stop to stake it will be always too late.

Bye bye andrea zorzi

In this post you find the of video interview to:


Matey Kaziyski

BUL Spiker

I asked the following questions:

1. When and where were you born?
2. Any other members of your family were sportsmen?
3. Did you play other sports?
4. When did you start to play Volleyball?
5. Bulgarians won less than they could have. Do you agree?
6. Is there a new generation of players upcoming?
7. Which is your technical priority?
8. Did you improve playing in Russia?
9. And why did you go to Italy to play?
10. Is everything as you expected?
11. How important is this 2007 World Cup?
12. You received the wild card. does it make you feel more under pressure?
13. How do you spend your spare time off the Volleyball?
14. Have you any hobbies?
15. Is Sport only a matter of winning or losing?
16. Have you a girlfriend?
17. Which are the favourite teams to get the three Olympic berths?
18. What do you like most in Volleyball?
How would you like to score the last point of an important game?


To watch the video clic HERE or over the picture above

Bye bye andrea zorzi

Okayama, (Japan)

Below you can see the first four teams in the 2007 World Cup standing updated after eight matches.
On the right, the next three matches for the four team that, in my opinion, still have chances to get the three Olympic berths.

 

 

 

 

*In case of tie matches won and lost by two or more teams, the Points Ratio instead of the Sets Ratio, will be applied to establish the final ranking.

This decision was taken by FIVB Board of Administration in April-May 2005. The main aim was avoiding the possibility of choosing the favorite opponent managing the result of the matches. In the past it happened a very few times in tournaments with quarter final, semis and final. Controlling the Points Ratio it is almost impossible because each point, from the first match to the last, could be decisive.
For this reason, the best teams play every matches very resolutely, also against the much-weaker teams, trying to get the best Point Ratio.


Only statistics fans have to look at the next table.

After 8 matches only 1 point separates Bulgaria from USA (watch Point difference)
As said, the Ratio Point will be applied for the final Ranking but it’s necessary to look at the fourth decimal numbers to untie the two teams.



Watching the standing, Russia seems to have many opportunities to earn the qualification, although the next three matches (BUL, BRA, USA) are tougher than those in other teams calendar. Until now, Russians played in the “weaker” group and, from now on, they have to face the strongest squads.

Living in the same hotel with the teams and spending much time with them, I try to share with you their emotions.

How do Russian players feel just two days before the crucial match with Bulgaria? Or who is more worried?

Let’s start from the most settled teams:

As usual, Brazil is playing the tournament with a great strength of mind. After the defeat with USA, they got back their winning pace, turning to be the favorite team to win the 2007 World Cup. In the video interview with Gustavo that I’ll post the day after tomorrow, the wonderful Brazilian middle blocker said that his dream is to win another gold medal in Beijing Olympic Games. I believe that he and his team mates are enough confident to be there!

USA swept away Australia in the last match playing once more a very consistent game. They don’t show any hints of worries, even after the unpredictable defeats in the First Round with Porto Rico and Spain.
This morning, just before the match, I met Marv Dunphy who is in Japan as USA team manager.

But please don’t forget that:

...in 1984, Marv Dunphy was selected by USA Volleyball to coach the USA Men's National Team through 1988. During Dunphy's four year, the American squad maintained a No. 1 world ranking and compiled an impressive overall record of 197-31. Additionally, the team won nearly every major international tournament, including the 1985 World Cup, the 1986 World Championships, the 1987 Pan American Games, and the 1988 Olympic Gold Medal in Seoul. Then he agreed to act as an assistant coach at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and again during the 2004 Olympics in Greece. Furthermore in 1994, coach Dunphy was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame!

I asked him how they feel and which are their hopes for the last crucial match with Russia. He looked at me surprised and said: “the match with Russia? We are thinking only at this match with Australia.”

These are the usual words that any coach and player often repeat but said by him are utterly trustworthy.

And now is the turn of the more nervous teams.

Russia and Bulgaria are living similar emotions, even if Russia is still unbeaten and Bulgaria record is 6-2 (won-lost). Both squads are unpredictable, both are excellent in serving, attacking and blocking but lack of team organization.
The next match, Friday 30TH Nov in Tokyo, will be “the match” for them.

If Russia will win, Alenkno’s players could likely celebrate the qualification, whilst Bulgaria could rely only on the US team results.
Moreover, Martin Stoev (BUL coach) is deeply concerned because in Bulgaria hardly anyone can remember the last victory with Russia. Last year Bulgarians won a friendly match but then, in the official tournaments, they were ever overpowered.

Such a doubt is unbearable, thus I asked Stanislav Shevchenko, the Russian Volleyball Federation Vice president. “The last Russian defeat with Bulgaria I remember was when I was still a player, more or less 12 years ago” he said

But from Bulgaria side, Ilian Kaziyski, Matey Kaziyski’s father, told me that actually the last victory dates back to 10 July 2003 during the World league in Madrid (BUL-RUS 3-1).

The odds are for Russia and I’m really surprise by the worry of Russian players. Probably the memory of the shocking defeat in the European Championship Final with Spain is still too close.

No one asked me but, if I should forecast the winner, I would stake on Russia.

Bye bye andrea zorzi