Blue emotions last night at the Spazio Rosmini di Monzawhere is that, that, that Volley Talk under the direction of Massimo Salmaso traced the history of the Italian national volleyball team in the presence of some key figures of Italian volleyball: the world champions Paula Cardullo, Simona Rinieri And Rachel Sangiuliano and the European champion and Olympic silver medalist Paul Cozzi. Included in the eventEuro Volley Tourthe approach path ai Women’s European Championships who will stop off in Monza from August 16th to 19th, the Sports Councilor of the Municipality of Monza was also present Viviana Guidetti and the Vice President of Coni Claudia Giordani.
Curiosities, anecdotes and special stories marked the evening, under the smiles and the memories of those who told of their experiences in blue shirts. The story began way back in 1948the year of the first edition of the European Men’s Championship hosted by Italy, until 1978, when the national team of the “Silver Seagull” received a historic world silver: “Names like Carmelo Pittera’s – recalled Cozzi – are still among the founding fathers of modern volleyball, we are all their children and we have them to thank if today volleyball is one of the most practiced sports in Italy“.
Afterwards, the masters present remembered their first encounter with volleyball “seen from the outside”: For Cozzi i World Cup 1994for Sangiuliano the fatal tiebreak against the Netherlands Olympic Games 1996. Other speech for Simona Rinieri: “We played volleyball at my house, I went to the PalaCosta in Ravenna to watch Nurko Causevic, who was my coach at the time, play, and I saw practically everything from men to women“. 1998 another important step with the introduction of the outdoorsPaola Cardullo, one of the best role interpreters in history, remembers: “My trainer told me: starting tomorrow you can play for free, otherwise you can stay at home!“.
Most of the anecdotes, of course, focused on the historical Won the 2002 Women’s World Cupwhich began with the loud exclusion of Maurizia Cacciatori: “We were at breakfast – revealed Sangiuliano – Maurizia came in, pointed at me and said, “There you go”: so I knew I was going to be in the World Cup. Let’s say the climate was quirky, there were times when we left our bags for collection and then sent them home when we weren’t part of the squad!“. Then, after an initial difficult phase, the crescendo that led to the gold in Berlin: “Elisa Togut said: If we pass, we win. And then he added: respect for everyone, fear for no one!“.
The three Azzurri agree that they almost don’t remember the decisive clash against the USA in Berlin and for Rinieri there is a special reason: “I had to drink a lot of beer for the doping test and I arrived drunk at dinner after the win!“. The Ravenna native also spoke about how destabilizing the absence of American champions Keba Phipps had been: “We had matched the game for her and for us it was a big mess that she wasn’t on the court, so much so that Bonitta told us in the first set: Don’t worry, let’s start playing“.
For Paolo Cozzi, too, the World Cup was a turning point in a way: “The girls became our target. Gian Paolo Montali, a great motivator, told us that if they did it, we should win too… and in 2003 we won gold at the European Championships, including in the same arena in Berlin“. And it was precisely from the former central manager, now TV commentator, that the symbolic sentence of the evening came, inspired by the anything but “light” consistency of the uniforms of the time: “The weight of the blue shirt is the most beautiful to wear, when you put it on, you feel like you are flying“.
The memories of three great champions who are no longer with us may Michael Pasinato, Kraft Bovolenta And Sarah Anzanellounderscored an evening of thrills and goosebumps that made all those present relive a spectacular journey, from among others 5 World Cup And 10 won European Championships, 4 Olympic medals, 8 world leagues and a VNL. A blue adventure that will continue for a long time.
(Source: press release)
