Inside VolleyCountry

It could've been worse. I feel Pool A could be the most difficult group.

Quoted from "Rains_of_Castamere"

Pool A

Italy
Argentina
Japan
Belgium
Slovenia
Dominican Republic

Quoted from "Rains_of_Castamere"

Pool B

Brazil
Canada
France
Egypt
China
Netherlands

Quoted from "Rains_of_Castamere"

Pool C

USA
Russia
Serbia
Australia
Tunisia
Cameroon

Quoted from "Rains_of_Castamere"

Pool D

Bulgaria
Poland
Iran
Cuba
Finland
Puerto Rico

Recap for this page.

Italy will have to be very careful with that group... 4 of the 5 opponents have potential to upset if they are in a bad day.

Quoted from "LDvolley"

if they are in a bad day.

Which never happens to us

Beside the joke, I think it's a quite balanced pool, so there is the risk of ending up in a bad position or even out, but on the other hand there are also chances to do well and ending up on the top or close to it (I mean it for all the major teams of the pool, not just for Italy). And that's very important not only for the future crossing, but also because you'll keep the points from the first phase.

Brazil-Canada-France and especially USA-Russia-Serbia are very interesting trios imho.

Quoted from "Rains_of_Castamere"

It could've been worse. I feel Pool A could be the most difficult group.

Interesting, I thought Pool A could be the weakest. They got the easiest draws in the second and third round with Argentian/Japan for sure, but Belgium and Slovenia back-to-back evens it out a little I guess. Either way, Pool B & C are brutal. Brazil-Canada-France and USA-Russia-Serbia are absolutely savage. Can't wait to watch.

I think that yours and Rain's considerations aren't strictly in contradiction. Or at least, they aren't in the way I interpreted them
In fact, 'more difficult' doesn't automatically mean 'strongest'. For me it's like 'more balanced', more 'it's everybody game'.

I think what Rain meant is that the 'good' teams in pool A will be the teams to have more difficulty to pass the phase, having there several teams on a similar level.

The pool C and B have definitely the strongest triplets of teams for me, but on the other hand they also have 3 overall beatable teams (or at least 2) so they can be quite confident of passing the turn.

Group C is tough indeed but B? Since when is Canada considered a super power? because they did well in a world league in which half of the teams didn't play with their best squads? they have little chance to actually challenge Brazil or France.

I think pool A is most certainly the strongest. Games between Italy, Argentina, Belgium and Slovenia (and hopefully Japan) can be really entertaining. At least Belgium has the chance to advance to the second round this year...

Having said that, I think all groups are fairly even, much to my surprise. Shall be a fun WCH.

Quoted from "LDvolley"

Group C is tough indeed but B? Since when is Canada considered a super power? because they did well in a world league in which half of the teams didn't play with their best squads? they have little chance to actually challenge Brazil or France.

Since the day they finished 7th at the 2014 WCH ( while ARG only finished at 11th) and since the day they finished 5th at the 2016 OG. I`m just not sure if half of the teams played with their best squads in these 2 tournaments

And for sure they can challenge Brazil and France, something that Argentina can`t as another example.

Quoted from "rbdfabio"

Quoted from "LDvolley"

Group C is tough indeed but B? Since when is Canada considered a super power? because they did well in a world league in which half of the teams didn't play with their best squads? they have little chance to actually challenge Brazil or France.

Since the day they finished 7th at the 2014 WCH ( while ARG only finished at 11th) and since the day they finished 5th at the 2016 OG. I`m just not sure if half of the teams played with their best squads in these 2 tournaments

And for sure they can challenge Brazil and France, something that Argentina can`t as another example.

Argentina played in a very tough pool though.

Canada got really lucky with their draw.

I know the team from South America is not the best gauge for volleyball superiority as of the moment but I am still expecting some young players from Argentina moving up to the senior ranks. They won the the world championship for their age group a few months ago. I feel Argentina can be a challenger if these young players can be of use with De Cecco's talents and with Facundo coming back to help the team again.

I am also expecting a lot from Canada. These two teams have some good young players that can potentially be a driver to some victories or upsets in the coming years.

Quoted from "rbdfabio"

Quoted from "LDvolley"

Group C is tough indeed but B? Since when is Canada considered a super power? because they did well in a world league in which half of the teams didn't play with their best squads? they have little chance to actually challenge Brazil or France.

Since the day they finished 7th at the 2014 WCH ( while ARG only finished at 11th) and since the day they finished 5th at the 2016 OG. I`m just not sure if half of the teams played with their best squads in these 2 tournaments

And for sure they can challenge Brazil and France, something that Argentina can`t as another example.

haha very funny. Let me go through all this...

OG 2016, yes, QF... we also made the same... though at least we topped our pool and went out to the eventual champions.

WCh 2014... please, go back and compare the second round pools we had and the one Canada had... we had to beat BOTH Italy and USA just to finish in 11th place (!) while canada was breezeing with the likes of Finland, China, Cuba and a Bulgarian team that were in the worst shape of their lives.

Challenge France and Brazil? as far as I remember Canada didn't win any match vs them in the last WL. At least we managed to get a win against our neighbours, even playing without Conte.

Also we defeated Canada in any relevant match I can remember in recent times.


I will admit though that they are incredibly good at playing vs the US, but putting them in the same basket as the elite teams is too much...

We can`t dismiss a team results based on the group or teams they played against. In this case we would say Argentina only reached the Q in the OG because they played against Cuba, Iran and whichever other African Team was in that group that I can`t even remember, not to mention a completely lost Polish team, while Canada playing in the Group of death against the GOLD, Silver and Bronze medalist, managed to finish 2nd place in the group. I doubt Argentina would have make out of pool play if they were in Pool B. Just saying it.

But well ok....Canada`s bronze does not count for anything because nobody else was playing with their main squad, but Argentina`s win against Brazil does count.
Brazil was already qualified for the finals and that was the 3rd round and Brazil was already over with it not to mention Argentina was at home..


What I meant by "challenge" Brazil and France is that Canada can put on a fight and won`t be any easy wins for both teams, of course BRA/FRA are favorites in that group but Canada can upset both teams if they don`t play their best.

Quoted from "rbdfabio"

We can`t dismiss a team results based on the group or teams they played against. In this case we would say Argentina only reached the Q in the OG because they played against Cuba, Iran and whichever other African Team was in that group that I can`t even remember, not to mention a completely lost Polish team, while Canada playing in the Group of death against the GOLD, Silver and Bronze medalist, managed to finish 2nd place in the group. I doubt Argentina would have make out of pool play if they were in Pool B. Just saying it.

And then Canada lost categorically to Russia, which Argentina had beaten before... it's all the same.


Anyway, I'm not trying to argue about "who's better" between these two teams. The point i'm making is that Canada does not belong (or not yet at least) to the big boys, it's still a "tier 2" team exactly like Argentina or Iran or Bulgaria or Belgium...

So we didn't actually see the draw, right? Even the officially recorded video on YouTube interrupts the draw in the middle and shows the interviews afterwards.

I have to say I feared I would be right when Japan was immediately drawn to Pool A Still, I believe the Italians didn't mess up this time, they got Belgium and Slovenia which will make the group entertaining. The host said that it would be made sure no more than 3 teams from a confederation could be drawn together, yet they first drew the assigning pool and then the team. Which would be insufficient, theoretically speaking, because they would need to draw another pool and return the previously selected one back in the pot in case of a mistake. And I am guessing this is maybe one of the reasons why they cut the video in the middle but I am only speculating here. Sorry if it comes too much, I just like drawing procedures. They are fun and are quite representative for any game, hence I would like volleyball to improve in that sense. Kudos to the Italian organization and the venue, otherwise!

To me, a World Championship cannot be boring, regardless of the seedings and the groups. Yet, this time we barely have a reason to complain. Teams got spread out relatively equally, there are some very balanced groups. In fact, only Pool C shouldn't be considered that balanced overall because there are 3 great and 3 weaker teams there, but even the fight for the first 3 spots and the 4th one should be fun. In the second phase we will theoretically have Italy, Argentina, Belgium, Slovenia, Russia, USA, Serbia, and then Brazil, France, Canada, Bulgaria, Poland, Iran together from the top teams. It is a nice distribution! The topic of who belongs to the world's best, world's top 4, or top 8 is quite long and sometimes biased, but the aforementioned are the top teams (Germany isn't here, of course) indeed.

To me personally, Pool D is the most balanced one. We remember the Puerto Ricans at the last WCH. Providing that Cuba shows up with some known players, there will be no easy match there. But no walkovers should be expected in Pool B, too.

I have a question:
When China was announced that it will join Pool B, why did boo appear?
Because Italy will be in the same pool with Slovenia?
Because "the black sheep" with rxxxxm?
I don't hope it is the second one.

Tomen, I would like trying answer to you but right know I'm not sure of what you meant, can you explain a little better, please?
I guess one problem is I don't get what 'rxxxxm' means ', and... can you give the minute of the video where that happen?
Thanks!

Quoted from "Kk15"

Tomen, I would like trying answer to you but right know I'm not sure of what you meant, can you explain a little better, please?
I guess one problem is I don't get what 'rxxxxm' means ', and... can you give the minute of the video where that happen?
Thanks!

about 57 minutes (other viewers said - the time when China was announced that it will join Pool B)
rxxxxm means racism - I don't hope so.

Quoted from "tomen"

about 57 minutes (other viewers said - the time when China was announced that it will join Pool B)
rxxxxm means racism - I don't hope so.

I think the Italians were just pissed about getting Slovenia in their pool. The guy drawing the balls looked like he saw a ghost when he drew Slovenia.

Oh ok tomen!

Honestly I really don't think there is any racism involved, in fact I didn't even get your censured word : even if in Italy these times racism is definitely not disappeared (in case is increasing :'(), it's something that hardly concern both China and Volleyball.

With no offense for China Men's volleyball teams, I'm pretty sure it's simply due to the fact Slovenian team is considered to be stronger.

Plus we have a recent 'bad' memory about them, that were capable to beat us in the ECh semifinal (and we were playing with full Olympic squad beside Birarelli, and we came from a 3-0 QF vs Russia and a silver in WCup).

Belngini's face when we pick Belgium