03/09/2020 09:00
Young Italians poised to contest #EuroVolleyU18M on home soil
CEV U18 Volleyball European Championship 2020
Marsicovetere/Lecce, Italy, September 3, 2020. The 2020 edition of #EuroVolleyU18M will start this coming Saturday, September 5, in Lecce and Marsicovetere, with the home side coached by Vincenzo Fanizza beginning their journey with three matches in Pool I. Unfortunately, due to travel restrictions still in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic, four teams – Russia, Finland, Slovakia and France – have withdrawn from the tournament. After completion of the pool phase, the top two teams from each pool will contest the semis and medal matches in Lecce, with the matches for places 5-8 due to take place in Marsicovetere. The YouTube channel of the Italian Volleyball Federation will provide fans with live streaming of all matches from start to the end of the competition.
After the withdrawals of four teams, Pool I in Marsicovetere features hosts Italy plus the national teams of Belgium, Bulgaria and Turkey. Belarus, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Poland compose Pool II with matches due to take place in Lecce.
The top six teams from the final standing will secure their participation in the 2021 edition of the FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship.
The Italian national team has been working hard with two training sessions a day at Villa D’Agri sports hall in Marsicovetere. “We are obviously very excited and we are all looking forward to the start of this tournament,” says outside hitter Luca Porro. “To prepare ourselves in the best possible way we have been working very hard and have made many sacrifices. While doing so, we have respected the strictest hygiene and health protocols at all times,” he continues.
Luca Porro has spoken of the excitement Team Italy feel ahead of #EuroVolleyU18M
“We are a very united group sharing a great desire to perform well, even knowing how difficult a high-level competition like this is,” Porro adds. “As we are drawing closer to our debut, we feel the excitement more and more but we always keep our concentration high and we try to give our best in every training session. The first goal is to show a good game and our qualities in all matches. Being the only Italian national team that will be able to play in Italy this year, we know that the expectations are high and we want to show on the court how motivated we are to do well. Every now and then, I speak to my brother [Paolo, U19 world champion last year]; he gives me some pieces of advice, but we have quite different characters and therefore I often do my own thing,” he concludes with a smile.
There are still 15 players working in Marsicovetere, with the list reduced to 12 on Friday before the start of the competition. The group currently includes: Cosimo Balestra (Green Volley Francavilla); Mattia Boninfante (Volley Treviso); Gabriele D’Ambrosio (Volley Parella); Ionut Ambrose (Lube Volley); Gabriele Laurenzano (Materdomini Castellana); Mattia Orioli (Robur Costa Ravenna); Alessandro Pisoni, Gianluca Rossi, Nicolò Volpe (Vero Volley Monza); Luca Porro, Marco Zoratti (Colombo Genova); Francesco Quagliozzi (Roma 7 volleyball); Federico Bonacchi, Matteo Staforini (Power Volley); Ranieri Truocchio (Modena Volley).
The event will be taking place without any spectators and only accredited people will be able to enter the two arenas. The organisers accept a very limited number of journalists as well, as long as they can provide a negative serological test, carried out no more than five days before the start of the tournament.
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