Translated material
Playing in the dark
The Russian national team received Argentina and Serbia as opponents
At the World Championships among men's teams in Italy, after a victory over Egypt (3:0) and a defeat from Spain (2:3), the Russian team took second place in its group “I” in Catania and will now continue to fight for medals in Florence, where it Serbia and Argentina will be the rivals in the triple “R”. If our volleyball players become the first in this company, then their possible opponents in the semi-finals will be Bulgaria, Cuba or Spain.This championship is amazing from the point of view of forecasters. Those who set out to make money by playing, for example, in bookmakers, and were guided by rating logic, probably got very burned. But those who use counterintuitive logic and mentally managed to put themselves in the role of this or that coach and understand his strategic logic could well succeed.
It’s difficult to even calculate a different logic if you know the final result. At least the defeat from the Spaniards is difficult to explain other than the strategic plan of the Russian national team coach Daniele Bagnoli. Before this match, on the sidelines of the press center in Catania, where the matches of our group of the second stage were held, the most viable option was the option with a possible strategic defeat of the Brazilian national team. For some reason, everyone decided that it would be the Brazilians who would shy away from a head-to-head meeting with our team at the third stage. But after the two-time world champions defeated the Polish national team (3:0), doubts about this situation appeared quite weighty.
Since the Brazilians played their next match with Bulgaria after the Russians had completed the second stage, Bagnoli, it seems, decided to play it safe. Our team defeated Egypt with a big advantage, and then, having won two sets in the match with Spain with the main team, which ensured access to the third round, the Italian decided to finish the game with the reserves. They were clearly in no hurry to demonstrate much zeal in such an ambiguous situation.
As a result, an obscure defeat from a team that was very difficult to lose even if they wanted to. Here the Spaniards, who have not been shining lately anyway, are far from being represented by the main team. At the same time, Bagnoli's arithmetic had a very serious flaw - the Spaniards had every chance of losing to Egypt the next day with the required goal difference. Then they themselves found themselves in a more realistic company for themselves at the third stage, and sent our team back to the group where, according to the players’ logic and real strength, Bagnoli’s charges should have ended up. All this is very interesting, but there was very little actual sports process in all this.
The outcome had to wait until late Saturday evening. The Spaniards did not split hairs and defeated Egypt (3:1), finishing in first place in the top three “I”, where the Russians remained in second position. But the coach of the Brazilian national team, Bernardinho, still made it clear that he does not want to meet with Russia at least until the final. The South Americans, without any options, gave the game to Bulgaria and ran away from Bagnoli's team to another part of the tournament bracket. If the current world champions had held the meeting to their strengths and gained the upper hand, then the Brazil-Russia semi-final would have loomed on the horizon. Now everything seems to have fallen into place.
These are the passions that were boiling in the minds of the volleyball people, one way or another connected with the World Championship. True, among the civilian population of Catania there were very few of them. Surprisingly, during the three days spent here, the Vremya Novostey correspondent did not see a single poster or poster indicating that the largest world forum was being held in this Sicilian city. The only visible propaganda was found directly on the façade of the Palakatanya Sports Palace. This sports facility itself, or rather, its existence in principle, caused considerable surprise among the townspeople from whom I tried to identify its location. However, all this did not stop the Italians from filling the stands at their team’s matches, since they were also playing in Catania these days.
So there was no excitement around the volleyball world championship in this city. This enabled our team to calmly and systematically prepare for more serious fights. It was obvious that our team would play against Egypt and Spain exactly the way they wanted, plus or minus one game. Bagnoli spent this opportunity on strategic games, and how much benefit this will bring, we will only know at the end of our tournament journey here in Italy.
Here is the composition of the groups of the third stage: “P” - Russia, Argentina, Serbia; "Q" -- Spain, Bulgaria, Cuba; "O" - Italy, USA, France; "R" -- Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany. The first two three play in Florence, the others in Rome. Accordingly, in the semi-finals the winners of the groups will meet according to the scheme “P” - “Q”, “O” - “R”. The same formula also applies to matches for 5th-8th and 9th-12th places, in which the teams that took second and third positions at this stage will perform. Schedule of matches in our top three: October 4. Serbia - Argentina. October 5. Russia - Serbia. October 6. Russia - Argentina.
Results. World Championship. 2nd stage. Group "I". Russia - Egypt - 3:0 (25:21, 25:17, 25:18), Russia - Spain - 2:3 (25:17, 25:22, 21:25, 20:25, 13 :15), Spain - Egypt - 3:1 (25:20, 28:30, 25:16, 25:19). Position: Spain - 2 wins - 0 losses, Russia - 1--1, Egypt - 0--2. Group "G". Puerto Rico -- Germany -- 0:3 (22:25, 22:25, 18:25), Italy -- Germany -- 3:1 (21:25, 25:18, 25:21, 25:18 ), Italy - Puerto Rico - 3:1 (25:22, 25:16, 18:25, 25:21). Position: Italy - 2--0, Germany - 1--1, Puerto Rico - 0--2. Group "H". Cuba - Serbia - 1:3 (25:16, 19:25, 22:25, 19:25), Cuba - Mexico - 3:0 (25:17, 27:25, 25:15), Serbia - Mexico - 3:0 (25:23, 25:18, 25:19). Position: Serbia - 2--0, Cuba - 1--1, Mexico - 0--2. Group "L". USA -- Czech Republic -- 0:3 (19:25, 22:25, 22:25), USA -- Cameroon -- 3:2 (23:25, 25:14, 25:27, 25:20, 15 :7), Czech Republic - Cameroon - 3:0 (25:17, 25:18, 25:17). Position: Czech Republic - 2--0, USA - 1--1, Cameroon - 0--2. Group "M". France - Argentina - 1:3 (25:16, 17:25, 23:25, 21:25), France - Japan - 3:0 (25:19, 25:22, 25:23), Argentina - Japan - 3:1 (25:22, 16:25, 25:14, 25:19). Position: Argentina - 2--0, France - 1--1, Japan - 0--2. Group "N". Poland - Brazil - 0:3 (16:25, 20:25, 20:25), Poland - Bulgaria - 0:3 (22:25, 18:25, 17:25), Brazil - Bulgaria -- 0:3 (18:25, 20:25, 20:25). Position: Bulgaria - 2--0, Brazil - 1--1, Poland - 0--2.