Posts by Leonardo.D

Quote from Joyajoelle

it was too rushed yeah. The text specifically says Russia is promoted based on world ranking. Just as basically everyone here on the forum predicted.

This decision making process is so FIVB. Unfortunately, they have got us used to this: rushing and taking a decision which affects multiple actors, realising the consequences too late, trying to solve it by making happy everybody, then realising it is not possible and the final decision will bring more challenges 🤣

Any idea how they would do with the groups now they are 19 and also, in case of a possible qualification, avoid UKR and RUS will meet in the finals.
Actually, FIVB should have done something to prevent a USA x IRN match, but at the end it happened in France. Double standards.

Honestly, I strongly believe Russia is avoiding to play the WCH cuz they want to keep their ranking and as it was already pointed out. However, the current rising Russophobia also plays a key role for not attending to a tournament held in Poland.
Do not get me wrong, everyone with a drop of common sense condemns and despises the bloody and illegal Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory. Nevertheless, I find it highly hypocritical that CEV authorities and some high profile European vball federation do not condemn at all the Israel participation at the next Men ECH (Poland and Ukraine share pool with that state). Or even USA as a host for next women WCH (much more after all what I saw in the last FIFA WC)
Both actions should be condemned and boycotted, otherwise there is lack of coherence. But anyway, it is the typical Eurocentric/western double standard policy.

Congrats Polska! Indeed, the best team in the Finals. They were clutch when it mattered the most, but to be honest, they had the weapons to close it in 3. They let USA came alive and even lead the match (with all the respect towards the North Americans, cuz they were more “heart” than quality for many moments of the match). Komenda lost his mind in set 2-3, but then he did what was needed. Micah tried to do way too many creative sets that at the end were not accurate at all.
Pity for Anderson, I don’t recall the last time they won an intercontinental gold medal.

Regarding Polska, well, Grbic has many questionable decisions too, way too many. But at the end he keeps winning this tournament. However, honestly with all the golden bench they have, I think they are “under achieving” a bit (with all the respect towards them).

This final match and second SF (especially this one) were a poem to this sport.

Micah was already very shaky since the start, but he has totally lost his mind at the end of the 4th set and during the whole tie break. One choice worse than the other.
And the Polish block is reading him really really well.

Quote from Joyajoelle

That ball from Fornal should have been called

He did it again now. I’m really surprised cuz during the first three weeks, this “attack” was multiple times called by the referees.

Quote from Colinaddicted

is 352 the heighest attacking point for this VNL ?

McHenry has just broken this record some minutes later : 359 cms now.

Btw, pity for USA that DeFalco isn’t healthy enough for playing. Champlin has been playing quite solid this VNL, but his level for this final is the weakest link for USA (along with Micah questionable choices). He is forcing way too much the attacks with Champlin

Quote from WZP

Before quarter against Italy, Polish commentator said that Defalco did not warm up on 100%, so probably he has some health issues.

In the arena, everybody was wondering the same: why DeFalco doesn’t come in? However, since the match against Italy, he is warming up, but only serving, not attacking, blocking, etc.
Yesterday he did a little bit of reception.
It is a pity for USA, cuz as everyone pointed it out, he could be a good change when Champlin is struggling.
In the other hand, Ishikawa warmed up at 100%, but he didn’t seem comfortable, even against China.

We have already already talked about several times and, indeed, Women’s volleyball level has decreased a lot in the last years, but both SFs from today were really 🥴 Not a good level at all, many mistakes, youth level mistakes and lack of volume.
Said this, congratulations to the two finalists!
First of all, Brazil. Personally, I consider it is the team which understands better that vball is a “team” sport duh. Despite missing 3 key players, they showed their main strength and biggest weapon : play as a team. I honestly think this victory is much important for the South Americans because they do need to believe they can actually win tournaments, something that they own fans criticise them for (always the bridesmaid, never the bride). Their last intercontinental gold medal was the WGP 2017 ! Almost 10 years ago.
Sure, at the end it is a VNL, but I’m sure that this win against Italy + a potential gold medal tomorrow will finally make them believe and trust they are champion material.

(Thought it would be bittersweet to get the 1st without Gabi).

Regarding Italy, everything was said: they looked very sloppy despite being complete. I preferred how the B team played in the first week than now. They looked as a team before, today not at all (sure this is also thanks to Brazil, but it was more than evident some Italian players seemed to be “out of sync”). This was already obvious in the 3rd, even winni bg against CAN and CHN. Orro once again was subpar…she is a good blocker, server and a very good defender for being a setter, but her technique is 🥴 atrocious. When she is “decent”, Italy is unstoppable.
The other finalist, Turkiye, is the most solid team from the competition for me, even without Eda and Ebrar. Not necessarily like a team, but doing the enough in order to keep winning. I confess that sometimes I don’t understand Santarelli changes at all, but well, they are winning. Sure, Vargas is one of the main reasons and I strongly believe she has been the most regular player in the whole tournament along with Julia B (I don’t see any other player as a MVP candidate). They have the upper hand against Brazil tomorrow.
Finally, China. They exceeded the expectations beating USA. Any other win will be a +. They could Complicate Italy if they serve good as in their previous match.

So it is Turkiye, Ukraine and Bulgaria fighting for the last two remaining spots.
Actually, it is so entertaining to see this VNL, until yesterday two other teams had chances to qualify (Serbia and Brazil).
Talking about Serbia, yesterday I watched live their match against Germany and it was a very heated on, many discussions in front of the net and so on.
Pity for them, they could have played for the last chance to qualify today against Slovenia (who rested some starters against Turkiye yesterday).
in any case, I think nobody expected that this team would have opportunities to go to the Finals in the second to last date.
It reminded how eliminated teams mess up with teams which are still with hope. As Bulgaria x Belgium for the Olympics.

Hope Iran doesn’t do that to Turkiye today

Ukraine has just blown away a massive opportunity to secure their presence in the Finals.
After the horrendous match Serbia played yesterday + how good UKR has been playing, I honestly think Oleh and company would get 3 pts today. Shocked.
Masulovic and Marinovic look very promising.

This Serbian victory is huge help for Brazil.
For neutral fans, it is very rewarding to see such a tight competition.

Quote from Tockin

anyone know what happened to clevenot?

I don’t know if they showed on tv, but he had a minor injury at the beginning of the match. He slipped away.
From the third set on, he was on the bench with ice in his foot and he seemed very disturbed by that. He finished the match barefoot on the bench

Quote from jaeden85

Brazil's next opponents. Goodluck! Really hope Bernardinho learned his lesson by having Arthur, Bryan, Adriano and Barreto as starters.

Canada

France

USA

Poland

China

Display More

Brazil desperately needs a win against Canada. If they grab it, the qualification for the Finals will be still in their hands and wouldn’t need to wait results from other teams.
Sure, their next matches are tough, but at least they depend on themselves.

Personally, for me France looks very very vulnerable in this season. They have won all their matches at home so far, but they are still far from their “level”. Even though they swept Serbia yesterday, they looked amateur during many moments of the match. Today they have a point to prove against Japan.

Quote from Soroushia

It's a bit surprising that Serbia already has four wins with this roster, but they have beaten some good teams. They've become a very disciplined team that takes advantage of their opponents' mistakes. Still, I don't really see them qualifying for the Final Round.

Iran, Canada, and Cuba are fighting to avoid relegation. China's hosting of the Finals and the purchase of a spot for next year's edition have made things even more difficult. Unfortunately, Iran doesn't play against China, so they can't count on a potential win there.

I really hope Iran avoids relegation because our young players are playing with a lot of passion and it's obvious that they're improving. This week, they came very close to beating both France and Japan. You should definitely pay attention to Ali Haghparast's performances.

But wait. If China finishes at the last place in the preliminary round, wouldn’t be them the team which will be relegated?
I know they are hosting this year’s Finals too, but I thought that it was apart.

In that case, I feel that, unfortunately, Cuba will be the relegated one 🥲 Last year they were in the final8.

Quote from volleySrb

fun fact: Lazar Marinovic played 2 games and tonight will travel back to Serbia. Because he will get married tomorrow.

Now that you mentioned Serbia, I’m surprised (in a positive way) that half of the tournament was already payed and the Balkan team is in the top 7 and with good chances to qualify for the Final phase.
I did not expect at the beginning of this VNL. And you will be playing at home during the last weekend.
Btwa what happened with Veljko Masulovic ? He has been playing solid in the last matches and yesterday he didn’t see the court at all.

Night matches are really delivering.
Poland x Turkey: 5 sets.
Slovenia x Bulgaria : the host team did a gutsy comeback in the 4th set, it really seemed they would grab 3 pts in this match, but now Slovenia is leading 10-4 in the tie-break

France x Cuba : it is looming to a 5th set. Despite playing at home, the Olympic champions are still showing the same level than in the 1st week, it means way too many errors and lack of communication in defence.

Indeed, it is a horrible schedule: France x Iran and Belgium x Poland are delivering.

Belgium has been playing a very well structured vball, recycling so many balls, taking time for counter attacking, etc. Their comeback in the second set was remarkable.
But they looked out of gas at the beginning of the third set.

In the other hand, even though I understand France need to do the transition, slowly, it seems their youngsters are struggling more than what Giani expected.
Slovenia vs Canada are currently tied too.
Jeez, horrible schedule again.

Quote from Leonardo.D

Exactly! When I first read the FF email, I thought the event could be played without public because people have to queue before, especially for the first match, they had some issues for giving free water, etc.
But not at all, that in big 2026, a venue from a G7 doesn’t have proper AC or “climatisation”.
Yesterday night, the Federation installed some fans and are trying to add a quick AC facilities, but the city authorities are going to check everything this morning, only some hours before the first match (I think it is Iran x Serbia).
Seriously, it is a massive negligent and shameful move. First of all, why do you decide to host an international tournament in a venue that you already knew there was no AC? Second, in the middle of the summer and third, French Federation knew in advance the heatwave was coming. It isn’t an earthquake that cannot be forecast.
Since last Sunday, there is a regional order that all the sport events held in a venue without AC must be postponed or cancelled, even for the health of the players. So not sure what will happen.
What stuns me also is this: nobody is talking enough about this. But when another letdown happened in a Global South host (for example last year WCH in the Philippines or WCCH in Brazil), players and federations were super vocals and criticising. Now that something similar or even worse happens in a G7 country, silence 🤫🤐

At the end, all today matches have been confirmed. Nevertheless, the authorities will be monitoring the development of the heatwave and its impact in the following matches.
For today and tomorrow, FIVB has added this “due to extreme weather conditions the match will have two additional cooling breaks per set when the first team reaches 8 and 16 pts. All set break duration are increased to 5 mins”.

To be honest, I don’t know how they did to install portable AC in so less time. Nevertheless, while watching the match online, it was more than obvious that players were already sweating a lot before even the warm up started and the much more during the national anthems.

Quote from KVB

Can’t believe there would be a venue without AC hosting an international tournament of an indoor sport in 2026

Exactly! When I first read the FF email, I thought the event could be played without public because people have to queue before, especially for the first match, they had some issues for giving free water, etc.
But not at all, that in big 2026, a venue from a G7 doesn’t have proper AC or “climatisation”.
Yesterday night, the Federation installed some fans and are trying to add a quick AC facilities, but the city authorities are going to check everything this morning, only some hours before the first match (I think it is Iran x Serbia).
Seriously, it is a massive negligent and shameful move. First of all, why do you decide to host an international tournament in a venue that you already knew there was no AC? Second, in the middle of the summer and third, French Federation knew in advance the heatwave was coming. It isn’t an earthquake that cannot be forecast.
Since last Sunday, there is a regional order that all the sport events held in a venue without AC must be postponed or cancelled, even for the health of the players. So not sure what will happen.
What stuns me also is this: nobody is talking enough about this. But when another letdown happened in a Global South host (for example last year WCH in the Philippines or WCCH in Brazil), players and federations were super vocals and criticising. Now that something similar or even worse happens in a G7 country, silence 🤫🤐

https://volleyactu.fr/selectio…fete-du-volley-a-orleans/

It seems that the VNL leg in Orleans could be played without public, limited public or even completely cancelled (French Volleyball Federation is looking for another host city) because the massive heatwave which is beating France now. This week the average temperature in the north-east is 36 degrees and tomorrow it could surpass 40.
What is shocking (at least for me), that the host arena does not have AC, players trained today with over 37º 🥵

FF Volley contacted us this afternoon in order to let us know this and inform us that tomorrow in the morning they will communicate the final decision. Honestly, it is massive let down and negligent move by all the authorities, because this heatwave was expected since more than 1 month ago.
I purchased tickets for this weekend, which is slightly more fresh than tomorrow.

Congrats Germany! For everyone who has been following them, we all know that, unfortunately for them, their trademark is losing tight matches, especially in tie-break, even thought they could have been leading “comfortably”. And the main reason, besides the experience of the players, is the “passivity”their spikers show. They are usually more scared of the error, than scoring. Therefore, I guess most of us here thought the Germans would find a way to sabotage themselves.
Without taking the credit to the Germans, but Brazilian current level also helped A LOT : how it is possible you brought THREEE opposites and you finish the match with the 3 on the bench? Like wtf? No words about the setters, seriously…it is a shame that the most experienced setter duo keep doing these same mistakes, over and over again.
As I said it before : it was already a loss for Brazilian when they were 0-2, now even much more.

Last but not least, I do hope Ze Roberto notices that he has to let Helena play more matches as starter. He could have done it against DR, Bulgaria, NED, etc.
He is too stubborn

Btw : there is no more undefeated teams. That’s better for Brazil, one pressure less.

Regardlessthe outcome of the match, this is already a loss for Brazil and it should definitely turns on an alarm. With all the due respect towards Germany, it is not possible the European team is leading 2-0, much more with the line-up they sent.
Not saying Brazil was obliged to win 3x0 and not let reach Germany reach 15 pts each set, but a team with two of the most experimented setters combo and the best current MB can’t be trailing 0-2. Despite the well known OPP issues.

Now we see a desperate move by Ze Roberto; Julia B, Ana C and Helena at the same time. He had multiple “easy” matches to try this line up. Let’s see if it works. And even though I know it is highly improbable it will happen, he should let a 3rd setter play as a starter a whole tournament.