Will this element decide about the victory over Italy? Nikola Grbic warns against the European Championship final
The Polish national team will fight in the final of the European Championships for the second gold medal in history. In the last match of the European Championship, he will face the Italian team, the defending champions. After the match against Slovenia, Nikola Grbic may have been dissatisfied with one element of the game. It may decide the victory over Ferdinando De Giorgi’s team.
After three 3-1 victories (over Belgium, Serbia and Slovenia), the Polish national team reached the final of the European Championship. Nikola Grbic’s players confidently dealt with their rivals, avoiding a tie-break. In the fight for gold, they will face a rival who, like them, stormed through the earlier stages.
Nikola Grbic drew attention to one element of the game after the match against Slovenia
The Italians will start the match with a huge crowd of fans in the Roman stadium. Although red and white colors are certainly expected, most spectators will support the Azzurri. The match with Slovenia was watched by much fewer people than the later match between Italy and France, but those who decided to come earlier could not feel disappointed.
The match against Slovenia was at a high level. Initially, the silver medalists of the previous championships were on top, but over time, the Poles began to dominate, which was reflected in the set results. After the match, Nikola Grbic commented on blocking. This element was crucial in the previous matches, and in the clash with the Slovenians, the White and Reds scored only 10 points. According to the Serbian coach, an unusually large number of blocks should not be expected in the match against Italy. However, he hopes that at least the central players will be able to slow down the ball a bit and allow the rest of the team to defend better.
– It is difficult to maintain such a high number of point blocks because the best attackers hit high, on the toes and do not give up points by attacking the block. And such players played for the Slovenians. If we do not stop our opponents so often, it is important that we simply touch the ball so that the ball does not go out of bounds and that we set up a good defense, Grbic told WP SportoweFakty. – Against Slovenia we had only 10 of them and in four sets. This means they simply had more attacking quality. And the Italians will show a high level on Sunday in this element – added the coach of the Polish national team.
Poland will play for gold at the 2023 European Championships
The final of the 2023 European Championship Italy – Poland will take place on Saturday, September 16, at 9:00 p.m. Earlier, France and Slovenia will fight for bronze in the tournament.
