Olympic Games - 2016 | 8 | 6

    For the first time after 12 years, one of the European teams is guaranteed to make it to the semis and I think NED has the best chance to do it.

    Wow, I'm thrilled to see the Slavic match, I presume It's gonna be a blood one, considering their ego and competitive spirit, like last year in the semifinal of ECH, Kosheleva and Boskovic had visible conflicts through the net. I expected Russia to meet the Netherlands and Serbia with South Korea but everything came up different results.


    I assure, both Guidetti and the Korean coach couldn't be happier to meet each other, they even played friendlies before coming to Brazil. I just hope Balkestein will be ready to play, leastwise in order to help team's reception in the back-line, I don't want to see Plak-Buijs duo as Korean serving is clearly hostile. I just realized that Korean blockers aren't very used to slide attacks, so I guess De Kruijf could be a splendid supporter for Slöetjes who's obviously the real key of the team.


    Regarding Russia - Vetrova has got such clumsy setting techniques but her sets are high (which should be favorable for Goncha and Kosha) and fast as well, Japanese blockers had a hard time to get her sets, in addition she digs better than Pankova. Her drawbacks are also very certain though, she sometimes thinks she's an attacker and not confident when the reception comes too close to the net.
    Shcherban was nightmarish yesterday against Brazil, she needs more consistency.

    Among the QF matches, RUSxSRB is the most uncertain one I think. I like the way Serbia is playing, their offense is arguably better than Russia due to their world class MBs, but Russia has the experience and maturity which may help them in crucial moments and ultimately decide the outcome of the match. Overall, both teams are evenly matched.


    I don't know what to expect on the BRAxCHN match to be honest. In their last meeting, China "A-team" beat Brazil 3-1 in the WGP. China is still dangerous if they get their game going, especially if Zhu Ting and company go on beast mode, but Brazil will be the favorites.

    Quote from ignorans

    Gold: USA
    Silver: Brasil
    Bronze: Serbia (Russia less llikely...)
    Netherlands again lucky with draw (same at EC...)


    Really lucky draw indeed, in a pool with USA, Serbia, China... :whistle: :aww:

    Last match between China and Brazil was actually 3x0 for China, in a very very easy way. It was probably the worst match of Brazilian team in years as they simply didn't do anything in the court.
    Looking at this China team right now, it's clear that Brazil is the favorite to win the match, but anything can happen from now on. It will be a really tough match for both teams and I expect the scores to be very tight with a difference of 2 points in each set. I hope Brazil can make it, of course.


    The match between Serbia and Russia will be the best one for me, and it looks to me that they put it in the night slot due to television broadcasting, which seems to be very smart. I think Serbia is way better than Russia, but I don't know what to expect from Serbian girls. They can play outstanding in one day and then just crash in the other day. Let's just hope it's a good show. I can't see Korea beating Holland (with or without Grothues) and USA x Japan will be of the course one of the easiest matches in the tournament so far.

    Just got to watch RUS-BRA...Brazil passed their first real test in a very convincing manner overall, they're in a very good shape. Russian setters performed even worse than I thought, not only tactically but also their precision was a nightmare. There were so many balls that the attackers had to fight to keep in play, no chance to really attack them.


    As for the QFs...USA shouldn't face any problems against the weak Japanese team. I'm also confident that Netherlands will beat Korea, after the opening match against Japan Kim hasn't been convincing anymore and Guidetti always prepares his teams very well against her. He'll have learned his lesson from the 0:3 in OQT, so I expect the Dutch team to win.
    The other two matches are harder to predict. China hasn't been convincing so far, but you should never count them out. I expect them to cause Brazil a lot of trouble, but if Brazil plays like they did against Russia they should win. The most unpredictable match for me is the European derby. History speaks for Russia after beating Serbia 3:0 in the last two ECH semifinals, but this is a whole new tournament. Both teams are similar, relying on power and height, but Serbia has more variations. On the other hand Goncharova is more stable than Boskovic/Brakocevic and Kosheleva's best is better than Mihajlovic's best, plus Scherban is a lot better than Malesevic/Nikolic. Knowing Russia's excellent nerves and Serbia's tendency to crack under pressure (such as almost losing to Argentina in World Cup when they needed to win to assure the ticket), I have a feeling that Russia might have a slight advantage in this match.

    USA will have no difficulty with Japan, who have looked poor throughout.
    Kim will need to be in God-mode for Korea to have any decent chance of beating Holland, who have been very impressive so far.
    China can't beat Brazil if they play like they have been so far, but if they rediscover the form they showed in the 2015 WC then this could be an interesting match.
    I agree with those saying Russia V Serbia is the most interesting match. Russia generally have the upper hand against Serbia, though Serbia did win at the WC. Overall I would expect Russia to win due to Serbian errors and poor reception, as well as the devastating attacking of Goncharova and Kosheleva.

    Here we are: DRAMA! Ladies and gentlemen, this is Italy. This is belpaese. That's amore.


    Olimpiadi: Costagrande "addolorata per i Giochi delle azzurre"


    RIO DE JANEIRO - Dimostrando in forte attaccamento ad una maglia azzurra che ha vestito con passione, l'italoargentina Carolina Costagrande commenta così sul suo profilo Facebook il pessimo risultato delle azzurre alle Olimpiadi di Rio2016. Analisi severa ma che deve far riflettere.


    Peccato che a dirigere il movimento non ci sono atleti e tecnici...


    di Carolina Costagrande


    Sono addolorata e non riesco a non esprimerlo. Ho visto le partite dell'Italia a Rio. Ho visto le mie compagne, nonché Amiche, gente con cui ho condiviso battaglie e fatiche, allenamenti e lunghi ritiri, delusioni e vittorie. E con loro le ragazzine che stanno crescendo. E le ho viste in difficoltà, buttate allo sbaraglio senza gli strumenti per affrontare un torneo così importante.


    Non parlo di me sia chiaro anche se sono stata sempre disponibile alla chiamata in Nazionale, mi rendo conto che gli anni passano e comunque all'Olimpiade si va in dodici e qualcuno inevitabilmente resta fuori.


    Quello che mi addolora però è vedere una Nazionale con il prestigio che ha quella italiana fare brutte figure all'Olimpiade. Mi sembra una mancanza di rispetto per la sua storia, per le sue giocatrici, per chi guarda da casa... Ci voleva più continuità con la Nazionale che aveva vinto prima, un percorso più lineare perché anche le giovani che entrano possano crescere senza essere bruciate.


    All'Olimpiade si va con il progetto migliore, non con gli esperimenti e le prove, perché su un palcoscenico incredibile come quello dei Giochi a fare la brutta figura sono le ragazze. Non è questo il posto dell'Italia e mi auguro che ora vengano fatte le scelte migliore per far tornare questa Nazionale dove merita.


    Source


    It should be easily translated by Google if you don't speak italian.

    tl;dr


    2014 wch ended up being a disaster for Italy NT. It was supposed to be the event revitalizing it, instead it killed off any attempt of renewing the team and we ended up with this hybrid: half team too young, half too old and a coach basically chosen thanks to past glory who had nothing else to give.

    Honestly I agree with Costagrande. Deep cur or old group. But working on the OGs for 4 years, not just from january, which is what Lina said as well using other words. She openly said they came to Rio de Janeiro unprepared and started their preparation from january, while other teams worked on it 4 years. This is the right result for the federation and the coach...

    I didn't understand some parts of Costagrande's post but she said she was available for the OGs?! Please, just don't...

    Quote from Matthias

    She says she's ALWAYS ready to play for NT :rolll:


    I'm sure Italy would have done a lot better with Cacciatori, Gioli, Rinieri, Togut, Leggeri, Piccinini, Cardullo there :gone:

    :lol: :lol: :lol:
    Lo Bianco said some things about the OG and the NT...it's in Portuguese, but I think it can be easily translated to English too:


    http://www.melhordovolei.com.b…-mas-faltou-continuidade/

    Quote from Sidney

    I didn't understand some parts of Costagrande's post but she said she was available for the OGs?! Please, just don't...


    She just underlined she has been available the whole time for a call, but at the same time she knew years have gone, there's room just for 12 players and someone has to stay out.