2022 FIVB Women's World Championships - Netherlands and Poland

    Quote from Janko

    Basically. I sincerely doubt Piccinini ever had to deal with anything approaching such vitriol even though she was the face of Italian female volleyball for over a decade and the only one who was well-known in Italy even outside of volleyball fans.

    Media loved Piccinini and Cacciatori. Back then women's volleyball wasn't as popular as it is now, which is a shame considering how much better the level was: I don't remember a worse tandem of setters than Orro and Malinov, for example. Cacciatori was expelled from NT in order to give Lo Bianco the chance to shine. Ferretti never had real chances. And now Italy has Orro and Malinov. ||


    I feel sorry for Egonu. <3

    remove egonu from the roster then let's see if italy will even be at top 5 of the work rankings. X/

    poor egonu, she doesn't deserve all these hate.

    Quote from avid
    Display Spoiler

    I am glad someone said it. Let's not pretend it's for anything else

    The fact is that Paola is the only famous player for the mid level media in Italy (not the vball specialized ones ofc). They don't even know who's in the roster. They just associate volleyball with her. I'm sorry to say that Italy loves to insult its players when there's a defeat. (Please note that I'm not talking about criticism, that would be normal, I am really talking about insults and very unpleasant personal comments given with zero care towards the player). I read thing I really would have preferred not to.

    This is something that happens with every non football sport in Italy, once a team/athlete get some results and notoriety everyone becomes a last hour expert and have a lot to say during events, but they will forget about the subject in a week or so (it was way worse after the Olympics), but just for another example Federica Pellegrini always had huge ups and downs with the media, nowadays it much more apparent thanks to social media


    Egonu being black is obviously a huge part of the response she's getting specifically, even more so now after the recent elections

    Quote from voulter

    This is something that happens with every non football sport in Italy, once a team/athlete get some results and notoriety everyone becomes a last hour expert and have a lot to say during events, but they will forget about the subject in a week or so (it was way worse after the Olympics), but just for another example Federica Pellegrini always had huge ups and downs with the media, nowadays it much more apparent thanks to social media


    Egonu being black is obviously a huge part of the response she's getting specifically, even more so now after the recent elections

    We have so many similarities, OMG!;(<X


    So much about the difference between Latins and Slavs...the real divide of the peoples of Europe is between Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean.:lol:

    Quote from Genius of the Sky

    😩 Poor Egonu. I read somewhere she wanted to give up playing volleyball after Tokyo. I think this might be one of the reasons why. Now I feel like I just wanna hug her.


    Before and during Tokyo Olympics, Paola was living a very stressfull and private issue. She only made in public after the tournament. If I am not wrong, her grandfather passed away (or another close relative) and she was not able to tell him goodbye. She didnt try to excuse at all, but it was one factor of her poor performance.


    Sometimes I wonder why she receives so much hate from the "side" she should not, the one which should be proud of her. She is the daugther of migrants, LGBT+ and a woman. Unfortunately the attracks from the far-right (for example, Adinolfi comments <X) are expected.

    Likewise, it is good that she is clever enough to not be "used" nor "exploited" for propaganda.

    Sorry for :offtopic:

    Moving to Vakifbank was the best thing happened to Egonu, not just financially, but also for her mental and physical health wise.

    Away from all those pressure and those racial non-sensense. And for Turkish girl, especially for those who play for Vakifbank,

    they have the best spiker Egonu, and Boskovic and best overall player of the world Gabi. They should learn something from those players.

    If I am Guidetti, I would tell the players just do whatever Gabi does. It is going to be great for Bajema to work with Gabi.

    Lavarini on his IG uploaded a video with pictures from Polish NT with polish song.

    It's cute how he supports them and they can feel it. Nawrocki was always complaing that they aren't not in top 50 on their positions and he was always saying that we are underdogs against almost everyone. You can not win with that kind of mentality. That's the difference.

    Quote from Aro

    Moving to Vakifbank was the best thing happened to Egonu, not just financially, but also for her mental and physical health wise.

    Away from all those pressure and those racial non-sensense. And for Turkish girl, especially for those who play for Vakifbank,

    they have the best spiker Egonu, and Boskovic and best overall player of the world Gabi. They should learn something from those players.

    If I am Guidetti, I would tell the players just do whatever Gabi does. It is going to be great for Bajema to work with Gabi.

    I think it was Kisy that said Gabi is the most disciplined person she ever met, in and off court. I really would love to know what she meant by that. Hope they can do like short docu on her life as a vb player.

    Quote from avid
    Display Spoiler

    Why would it be because she is black? Is there any racial remarks or insults in comments?

    It is kinda racist to assume someone would be criticized just because of his skin color. I don't think she should be the scapegoat for the loss but people don't get criticize just because of their skin color or sexual orientation 🤦

    avid this is not America. It is not everything about skin color.

    Quote from serdar

    Why would it be because she is black? Is there any racial remarks or insults in comments?

    It is kinda racist to assume someone would be criticized just because of his skin color. I don't think she should be the scapegoat for the loss but people don't get criticize just because of their skin color or sexual orientation 🤦

    its racist to say someone else is racist? absolutely not.


    Racism in Italy (in general, not even just Italy) media is not a new thing. It has gone on for decades, it's not unique to Paola.... Italy literally just elected a fascist government.


    It doesn't have to be any racial remarks. Microaggressions exist. Google 'Paola Egonu' and look at the articles. They single her out (for her errors)... and does not offer any criticism towards other players.... Im not even going to bother with the comments.


    Now google "Alessia Orro".... where are the articles about her performance? I count one.... and even then the main subject of the article is Egonu and her errors. (and Sylla is also mentioned)


    Is it a coincidence that the two black players are the ones singled out for Italy's performance? no.


    ask anyone on this board who is the main culprit as to why Italy lost.... and 99% of them are going to say Orro. But yet she doesn't get singled out like Egonu does.


    And I don't want to hear the "egonu is the leader argument". Egonu is the leader because she has stepped up when no one else was. She had to step up... she faces so many more barriers than anyone on that team.... being black, being LGBT, being a daughter to migrants.... She faces more pressure than anyone on that team.... and yet... none of her other teammates are stepping up.... Chirichella was a captain... where's the comments about her.... or MDG.... or Bosetti....

    Quote from Genius of the Sky

    I read on Twitter that Italy’s media is attacking Egonu for the defeat? Is it true? The poor girl scored 30 points and they still mad at her?

    Really? The Italians know pretty much that their 🏐NT lives and dies on Egonu’s performance. It is cruel to blame her for the defeat. She contributed the most points. Maybe she should just excuse herself from the national next year and see how the NT performs.