Katowice (Poland)

15 July 2007

If one day should I ever explain what “a team in awe” means, I'll know exactly which example I should use. The final between Brazil and Russia will perfectly suit the purpose.
Russians faced this crucial match with the highest resolution and the firm belief that should be the day to stop the long-lasting Brazilian victories.
Russia is one of the strongest teams, technically very skilled and pretty experienced. Brazil, on the other hand, found not a few difficulties to get onto the right rythmn to the final. The Brazilian long list of vistories is “dreadful” indeed, but one of the most imperative rules in sport is: never look back.
You can’t rely on past victories to win in the present: if you do, those victories might let you drown.

Let me focus on tonight’s match. Russians easily won the first match, no the slightest mistake was made. Brazilians have been overwhelmed by the “giants’s” strength. Despite this, nobody has ever considered the match over. Far too often we all witnessed Giba’s team resurrection (i.e. during the World League Final 2006, in Moscow, Brazil was losing 0-2 against France but it ended up winning).
The second game seemed to be in the Russians hands as well, when – almost at the end of it – a reception dumb mistake allowed the Brazilians to get up again. At this very moment the awe effect standed out dintinctively. What the Russians had succeeded in until then, suddenly faded away.
Brazil won the second set only two points ahead. Same pattern for the following sets.
The Russians actually kept on playing great in the first half of the set, but as soon as the match reached its balance, it was clear that the Russians would have been the first making a mistake.
This is what happened in the third and fourth set, ended 28-26 and 25-22 for Brazil.

Brazilians want to destroy the idea that no team is unbeatable, Bernardinho’s players  seem to be invincible.

 

Bye bye andrea zorzi.

Katowice (Poland)

15 July 2007

Everybody in Poland is wondering: why why and why! Only two days ago the Polish team overwhelmed the United States and today has lost without ever being able to play a proper game.
Well, let’s try to figure it out starting from the two teams different expectations. The US team was already satisfied after their qualification  for the final round. Its aim was to develop their skills playing some high level and tough games.
As Hughes McCutcheon said in the long interview published in this Blog (take a look) many of his players play only in US colleges, therefore they can’t take any advantages of playing in competitive national leagues abroad. The only key they have to improve their level is to play against the best world’s teams as much as possible.
They were able to overtake the two lost matches (versus Poland and Russia) without suffering too much. They thought that winning bronze medal could actually be a great achievement, so they played with fully enthusiasm.
Polish team instead, had strongly hoped to reach the World League Final and semifinals defeat caused a great distress indeed. Playing today’s match thinking about the previous lost match, has made everything much more stressful. Moreover, Poland felt the pressure to get “at least” the third position.
The match result is exactly the mirror of what happened today in Spodek Hall, what a pity for the nice Polish supporters!

Why USA won: there is not doubt that the US better spike and better efficiency in reception were the technical keys to victory, but the Polish psychological approach was really disappointing.

Bye bye andrea zorzi

Katowice (Poland)

14 July 2007


Today Brazil has adopted accurate serving strategy: during the whole match they kept on serving on Winiarsky (polish swing hitter) and never changed that choice. Only Gustavo and Andrè (with a powerful jumping serve) sometimes failed the target, because in this case it is very difficult to be powerful and precise.

Moreover, Michal Winiarsky is a high-quality receiver!
Therefore, which is the reason underneath this tactic option? Nothing better than going to the mix areas (where the journalists can speak to the athletes) and ask the Brazilians why they had made this choice.
Dante (Brazilian spiker) answered first: “Before the match we have decided to serve on Winiarsky because when he is involved in reception he attacks less than usual”.
Then I met Bernardinho and I asked the same question. “We have studied the Poland team average – he replied - discovering that, when Winiarsky is involved in passing, his attacks are actually less efficient than usual. 
Being under pressure in each rally, he gets tired and everything becomes more difficult for him”.
It seems obvious and simple: serving on weaker receiver is not always the best strategy. Sometimes there are specific reasons that justify odd tactics choices.

Brazil has got the seventh World League final in row playing one more time with great consistency and taking advantage of every single chances.
Poland lost a great opportunity to beat Brazil today, since the South American team’s performance hasn’t ever been at its best. I believe that Poland suffers a kind of constraint towards Giba and the other team mates.

Why Brasil won: after today's match Sergio (the Brazilian Libero) told me: "whenever I'm playing, I think of my family and I remember where I came from!".

andrea zorzi

Katowice (Poland)

14 July 2007


USA and Russia represent two opposite attitudes in volleyball world.
Ex-Soviet Union has been volleyball’s cradle since 1920s, when this sport landed in Europe from USA.
Then URSS has dominated volley world until the 80s, building such a strong model tracked by all the Russian coaches since then. They neededn’t invent any further techniques: keeping on working using the ones developed in those glorious years was, actually, pretty enough. As a result, Soviet Union could always count on several good players, skilful and well trained.

On the other hand, since the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, US tried to walk new paths to overturn that status quo. Having no strong past to count on, US dared to invent thoroughly, relying only on few professional volleyball players.
Doug BEAL, the coach who shaped the US team and led it to the victory of two Olympic gold medals (1984 and 1988) and one World Champions gold medal (1988), modified the previous passing system using only two player to receive the opponent’s serve. Moreover, having not so many skilled athletes available, he had to find the right pattern suitable to that players. These two different schools, the Russian and the US ones, are today still recognizable.
United States team feature consists in adapting and solving, an attitude that created out-of-standard players. Some of their technical abilities come from beach volley (i.e. hold setting and peculiar digging technique).
To improve their individual skills, the US players prefer training more through global than analytical drills.

The Russians focus their attention on technique, instead, following very definite models and shaping very conventional athletes.

In this Final Round the two teams differ in value so much from each other that Russia could easily won and, despite it lost only one set, it was able to control the whole match. The peculiar way of the US to maximum exploit their potentialities turned out to be not enough to succeed.

Why Russia won: Russia served better, passed better, spiked much better and blocked better. USA couldn’t win counting only on digging better

Bye bye andrea zorzi

Katowice (Poland)

13 July 2007

Watching games as Poland-USA, very balanced and tight as well, though the final results was 3–0, always gives a great pleasure.
Moreover, lots of fans (11.000!) support the teams, all wearing a BIALO-CZERWONI (in Polish it means “white and red”) shirt, scarfs and duck hat.
They are well trained: today, Friday 13th, they sang a song against the misfortune. Smiling, they said that in this day everything could happen!
All together yelled aloud: RAZ, DWA, TRZY (one, two three) just when the players touched the ball.
During the technical time out, on the huge wide screen inside the Spodek Hall, a big red heart called “Kiss Camera” appeared. The Polish television director chose two persons sitting next to each another, at random among the audience, showing them inside the heart on the big screen. The two “elected” had to kiss each other. All of them actually did it, with a great happiness and participation indeed, and when the two displayed were two men or two women, they… hug each other!!
The atmosphere was particularly relaxed because both teams were already qualified for semis (Poland - Brasil and USA - Russia). Poland won because they were very resolute, especially when the game become tough, confirming that Lozano’s team has actually improved a lot in the last 2 years.

Why Poland won: USA team made small mistakes in crucial time and they paid at a high price. Poland took advantage of major consistency.


Now I try to build the “Dream Team” choosing the best fundamentals among the four teams qualified for 2007 World League Semifinal . I’ll pick up the collective skills not individual ability (i.e. Russian serve not Ostapenko serve).

SERVE	RUSSIA
RECEPTION	BRASIL
UNPREDICTABLE SET	BRASIL
ACCURACY SET	POLAND
UNPREDICTABLE SPIKE	BRASIL
POWER SPIKE	RUSSIA
DIG	USA
BLOCK	RUSSIA
MENTAL APPROACH	POLAND
CONSISTENCY	BRASIL

 

Bye bye andrea zorzi

 

Katowice (Poland)

13 July 2007


Julio Velasco, Italian team coach from 1989 to 1996, when we were playing poorly, often used the poker’s player allegory. To be an excellent poker player, it is necessary to cut down loss when you don’t have good cards: be patient, don’t give up and, mostly, avoid to be hurried. I have never played poker, but I know pretty well what means to reduce the damage in volleyball: today’s Brasil game against Russia is a perfect example.
Brasil is well known for Ricardo’s quickest setting, but today that risky feature did not worked out. Bernardinho’s boys can’t slow down their own style of playing, since they would loose their harmony completely. They are used to spike very fast balls and their run up approaching is automatic. They have not time to think, they have to start and they find out the ball in the right spot.
However, Brazilian players didn’t give up and kept on playing also when Russians fully exploited their heights and strengths.
During the second set Murilo (he played his best match I have ever seen) replaced the superstar Giba, who didn’t mourn and kept on supporting his team. Brasilians didn’t manage to find immediately a terrific game, they suffered long but they never lost self-confidence. At a certain moment, their performance changed. They started to get some block, dig several attacks and Russian confidence collapsed. Today’s success was very hard to reach and now Brazil is once more the biggest favourite for final victory.

Otherwise, Russians had wasted a great chance to beat Brasil, confirming that they are able to play only when they have an excellent hand, but you cannot hope to win only relying on best cards.

Why Brasil won: the team never gave up  helped by Murilo's outstanding performance

Bye Bye andrea zorzi

 

Katowice Poland

12 July 2007


I’m part of Volleyball since many years (before as a player and now as a journalist) and I learned how to recognize how teams celebrate at scoring points. Brazilians run and hug each other after each action. Cubans yell aloud, Japaneses rush ceaselessly and Russians remain expressionless! Italians, Polish and French are in between: for all of them it depends on the match. Observing carefully their expressions helps me to understand how determined and motivated they are.
However, this personal process cannot be applied to the US team. Since when the United States started dominating the scene (1980s), they always had a special approach. Most of the world’s teams during rallies are soundless, totally focused on the ball.
The US players keep sharing lots of information with each other. They never stop speaking. Each time the receivers remember their own competence areas, give the setter suggestions about the opponents shift. (Also when the spiker is ready to attack, the receivers still say how is moving the back-row players).
During the break between the scores, they don’t waste time celebrating or moaning. They restart immediately, focusing on the next rally. This special attitude, very pragmatic indeed, gives them the opportunity to widely exploit their talent, which actually has not always been outstanding.
This group, leaded by the head coach Hughes McCutcheon, is the perfect evidence of how it is possible to maximize benefits from this peculiarity: today against France they have played a perfect game indeed.
France? It’s difficult to say something about it. We all had the feeling that they were hardly there.


Why USA won: Right mental approach, perfect strategy, good shape. That’s enough to win against today’s France

Bye bye andrea zorzi

Katowice Poland

11 July 2007


Russia and Bulgaria are the two highest expressions of physical power actually existing on earth. All the athletes are tall, quick, powerful. The fans following the matches in the hall, cannot fully catch the real player’s size, because of the distance.
Only when a “human-size man", (i.e. referee, ball retriever or quick moppers) come close to those giants, everybody can recognize the truly Volleyball players’s hugeness.
The outstanding strength is not always accompanied by an equal technical and tactical talent. It is under everybody’s eyes that Mother Nature actually has been very open-handed with the Bulgarians and the Russians, so that their potentiality is apparently never-ending.
Whenever Bulgaria performs, as it often happens, it appears as the best team in the world but the day after, it is unrecognizable.
Today they have tried to win spiking stronger than the Russians. However, a team where Khamuttskikh (the Russian setter, almost 2 meters tall), seems a dwarf among his team-mate isn’t the right opponent to challenge using power. To beat Russians they should “play” volleyball, with cleverness and cunningness.
The Russians never loose when the opponents play in a plain and simple way: and Bulgarians did so!
Former Soviet Union team prove again to have a unbelievable constrained potentiality. Anyway, since too long the colossal Russians do not win a big international tournament. To win “heavy” medals the strength isn’t enough: intelligence and skills are required. Tomorrow against Brazil, (must win to get semis), the Russians will test their improvements. If Brazil will stop being be a sleepy lion, we will understand if high expectations towards Russians are reasonable or not.

Why Russia won: if opposite hitter and setter play fine, a Volleyball team rarely looses. Poltavsky and Khamuttskikh were outstanding, that’s it

Bye bye andrea zorzi

Katowice, Poland

At 8.07 PM only two colours are present inside the Spodek Hall (means UFO). Try to imagine 11.000 aliens dressed in red and white (the colours of Poland) supporting their athletes, isn't funny? In that moment Poland and France have started a stunning game.
Everybody knows that the most spectacular fundamental in Volleyball is defense and both teams played great and spectacular digs. The first game ended 38-36!
In the very long final of that set, Poland and France seemed to play cat and mice, but it was not possible to recognize who was the cat and who the mice. Both teams made plenty of silly errors, giving a lot of opportunities to the opponents. Referees made a mistake on 31-30 and, few points later, a line attack of Swiderski decided the first game. The team of Blain (the French coach) is used to play tough matches and it never gives up, and today they have kept on playing. The team of Lozano, on the other hand, badly resigned to play when they were leading by 16 to 13 and ended up by loosing 19-25!
With such a result, by that time the match seemed to be finished. But then Lozano replaced three tired players with Bakiewicz, Gruzska and Szymansky. They gave back energy and confidence to the Polish team and the match ended 15-11 in the fifth set.
For France a big regret: Frantz Granvorka, the best receiver and the most terrific spiker, had injured his back and therefore he could not be part of the match.


Why Poland won: in the first set both teams spent plenty of energy, but only Lozano had the chance to use back up players.


Bye bye andrea zorzi

Katowice, Poland

One year after, Brazil and Bulgaria open again the World League Final Round. Last year, in Moscow, Bulgaria destroyed the Brazilian team, which was distracted and too little concentrated. Bernardinho tried in all ways to wake up his team, which seemed a sleepy lion. His shouts, leaps and scolding weren’t enough.
That Brazil awoke the day after, just in time to get in the final and won the fourth World League in a row, with a spectacular match against France.
This year the Brazilian team arrived in Katowice very determined and, in the last trainings, have hardly tried  to defend the sharp angle attack. This could be the most dangerous weapon of powerful Bulgarian spikers.
At the beginning the match was marked by so many mistakes. The ability of Brazil to change serve (even slow but different), the Bulgarian sluggishness and an emotional break of Giba and his teamate have decided the first and second set (one each).
Then, the two coaches (Martin Stoev and Bernardinho) tried to increase the speed of the game and they used the back up opposite hitters (Iordanov and Andrè) replacing V. Nikolov and Anderson. Both wanted to give priority to the speed more than to the power.
But the game was decided in the fifth set, still characterized by many errors and by a clumsy rhythm. At this low pace Brazil is unrecognizable and Bulgaria exploits all their chances, taking advantage of the young players called in the last two set (Ananiev and Nikolay Nikolov).
The sleepy Brazilian lion didn’t wake up in time and Bulgaria can now enjoy another victory against Brasil, one year after.

Why Bulgaria won: it was a well-balanced match, but not stunning. The skilled spike of Iordanov in the fifht set (not only powerful, but also very smart) was crucial.

Bye Bye andrea zorzi