Translated material
Hope for an invitation
The Russians did not make it to the Euro 2007 final and are waiting for a wild card for the World Cup
The Russian women's team was unable to qualify for the World Cup based on the results of the European Championship that ended yesterday in Luxembourg, being content with third place. In the semi-finals, the current world champions lost to Italy 0:3 (21:25, 22:25, 13:25), and on Sunday, Giovanni Caprara’s team in the bronze medal match defeated the winners of the two previous continental championships (2003, 2005), the Poles. -- 3:1(21:25, 25:22, 25:14, 25:20).Italy and Serbia, as finalists, received the right to compete at the November World Cup in Japan, where the three winners guarantee themselves participation in the Beijing Olympics. The decisive match of Euro 2007 ended late in the evening Moscow time.
Our failure in Luxembourg cannot be called an accident; it is natural, since the Italians defeated Russia twice in a row. The first time this happened was in Belgium during the last round of the second group stage - 3:0 (25:15, 25:22, 25:19) in favor of Massimo Barbolini's team. This meeting was of no fundamental importance, since both opponents already had a pass to the playoffs and were preparing to move to Luxembourg. Our unwillingness to fight on equal terms with the “Squadra Azzurra”, even with the second team and in almost a training sparring, gave rise to bad feelings. They were confirmed in the semi-finals.
Perhaps we can complain about the lot. If Russia had met Serbia as a rival, the outcome of the championship could have been different for us. Still, the Serbians started the tournament very uncertainly, sensationally losing to Slovakia, which had never achieved anything, 2:3. But at the moment we have to admit that the Italians defeated Russia in all respects, having very clearly analyzed the play of our key players in attack. The shots of Lyubov Sokolova and Ekaterina Gamova were closed either by an effective block or softened by the hands of the Italians, remaining in their half of the court. It's hard to even remember when our leaders had such a low percentage of attack efficiency. Gamova scored only exactly a third of her goals - ten points from 30 attacks; Sokolova’s statistical record shows a completely shocking figure - 19%, that is, five out of 26.
As the meeting progressed, no fundamental changes occurred in the organization of the attack. Setter Marina Akulova continued to load balls into Sokolova and Gamova, although whenever possible she tried to use the first tempo in the person of Yulia Merkulova and Natalya Alimova. It seems that Caprara's team players lacked tactical flexibility in the match with his compatriots. On the other hand, with such high-quality volleyball that the Italians demonstrated, defeating them that evening was extremely difficult.
The best scorer of the match was naturalized Cuban, two-time Olympic champion (1996, 2000), diagonal striker Taimaris Aguero, who was still part of the team from Liberty Island. She scored 17 points. 2002 world champion libero Paola Cardullo achieved a 75% positive reception rate - a grandmaster figure. So, due to Cardullo’s reliable play, Russia was deprived of the usual advantage in the person of the best World Cup server Elena Godina.
The absence of Caprara's team in the final of the European Championship is not at all a tragedy or a total failure. There are now five or six teams in the world that are approximately equal in terms of the level of play and skill of volleyball players, as eloquently evidenced by the results of the latest major tournaments. China triumphed at the Athens Olympics, Brazil dominated the 2005 and 2006 Grand Prix, and this season the Netherlands won. Russia won gold at the last World Championships, Poland in Luxembourg lost the semi-final match to Serbia - 0:3 (25:27, 21:25, 21:25), losing the title of European champions that had belonged to it for four years. When there is such an unpredictable rotation, it adds intrigue to any tournament and helps to popularize the sport.
There is no need to rush to give up hopes of participating in the World Cup, since there are two wild cards. One is issued by decision of the International Volleyball Federation, the other is at the disposal of the organizers, that is, Japan. For men, special invitations went to Bulgaria and Korea, respectively. Volleyball players from the Land of Morning Freshness earned a ticket to the World Cup based on the results of the Asian and Oceanian Championships, so the Japanese side does not need to hold a wild card for their geographical neighbors. And at the same time, the girls from our volleyball team, especially Gamova, Godina and Sokolova, are extremely popular among flying ball fans in Japan. There are even personal fan clubs; individual enthusiasts set up websites for Russian players on the Internet, so receiving an invitation to the World Cup, especially for current world champions, is a very real prospect.