Antwerp, Belgium, June 16, 2017 - Italy prevailed over France in a five-set thriller 2-3 (20-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-20, 16-14) making the coach Gianlorenzo Blengini happy to register a victory again.
Italy coach Gianlorenzo Blengini: I'm so happy with the win and I'm happy for the guys. Staying strong after losing some games in the World League is not easy. We still need to grow technically, in personality and in spirit.
Italy player Giulio Sabbi: It wasn't the best of start for us. We started playing so and so during the first set and it's only after the first set that we start playing good. The rest of the sets were better for us and that's how we manage to get a win in the tie-break. The fifth was difficult for us to control because France was leading but in the end we won 16-14.