WHAT IS DONE
A unique tournament distance in the length of two qualifying groups and a semi-final - only 10 matches was completed. The Russians suffered a defeat only once - in the last group game against Brazil, already having a ticket to the playoffs and giving rest to the team leader Lyubov Sokolova. Rest went to our advantage. In the semifinals, she scored 21 points and, with the support of the whole team, celebrated a dry victory over Italy - 3: 0. The wards of Caprara predicted success, but they feared meetings with traditionally strong rivals - however, both China and the United States, and now Italy were particularly defeated.
WHAT IS UPON
The final match against Brazil. The coach of the Russians Giovanni Caprara (as well as everyone else) considers the Brazilians to be the favorites of the tournament, however, no one will “hand over” the match in advance at such a high tournament stage. Talking about some obviously weak spots of the Brazilians is blasphemy, but their obvious superiority in the group stage match will be leveled by returning to the Sokolova venue. The Brazilian national team is unlikely to add. Our task is to catch up with them in the game component and not give way in the psychological.
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
The outstanding individual qualities of our best volleyball players have been known for a long time. Japanese statistics generally confirm common truths: Elena Godina is the best on the pitch, Ekaterina Gamova is the third among the blockers and in the top ten slaughterhouses. And Lyubov Sokolov, the coach of the invincible Brazilians, Jose Guimaraes without hesitation called the best volleyball player in the world. The traditional strong attack is there; undoubtedly, under Caprara the national team progressed significantly in team actions in general, and in the game in defense - in particular. The match with the Americans was won dry, mainly due to the well-coordinated game of all the lines - the points on the account of the attackers fell evenly. Whereas the “Chinese” battle became Gamova’s performance: 29 points, which included six “test” blocks and four aces. And in the semifinals, Italy received a salvo of all our guns. Another argument “for” is the progress of our team during the tournament: closer to the decisive masts, the wards of Caprara felt sorry to give the rivals even one set.
REASONS FOR ANXIETY
The injury of Lyubov Sokolova is already a thing of the past. Having pulled a hip in a match with the Americans, Diagonal missed the match with Brazil, but managed to recover by the semi-finals. However, doctors still fear relapse. After all, another injury has already made itself felt in Japan. The main passer of the national team Marina Akulova injured her knee before the championship and reached the first group matches unhealthy. So far, Akulova is playing without obvious mistakes - but below her level. She had to leave the shade tomorrow. Our closest opponent is famous for his ability to calculate the opponent’s game options, and we would like the weak link he computed not to be such. But the most unpleasant thing is if the whole team relaxes. There were two such cases in Japan: in a match with Dominicans and Germans. Then the Russians came to their senses and pull themselves together, both desire and strength. Minute weakness in both cases cost our team a set. Doing charity in the finals is not recommended.
Ivan Kalashnikov