I don`t think Brazil "did not give their best against Bulgaria", they played to win, just like they have played all other 5 games, if they were gonna let someone win they would let Canada win as well.
But if Bulgaria does play next week with their main roster will be very very disappointing.
About Gianelli - Yeah I was thinking that, maybe he needed a break, but the problem is he`s only 20 years old, and it is too early to give him that kind of privilege. The whole team seams disconnected.
I agree that Italy does not have any really powerful hitter besides Zaytsev and now Sabbi, but that`s why I keep talking about the "local players should not be on the bench" Italian Teams are taking the easy road and investing on International Players and it is not investing on its local players development. Nelli could be this player Italy need to back up Zaytsev, but he wasted his whole season on the bench.
But learning now that nobody is falling to the 2nd division, it makes sense, Italy is probably just like Russia, they don`t even want to reach the finals
I hope Belgium and Canada makes to the final 6, Its been fun watching them play.