Italy awaits France in the quarterfinals
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Slovenia, in front of their incandescent public, and Italy enforced the hierarchy to dismiss Germany and Cuba three sets to one and qualify for the quarter-finals of the Volleyball World Cup on Saturday in Ljubljana. The Slovenians will face the Netherlands or Ukraine, opposed on Monday, like France and Japan, who will challenge the Italians.
The reigning European champions, who had not lost a set in chickens, fought for a long time to overcome the Cubans (25-21, 21-25, 26-24, 25-18) led by the central massif Robertlandy Simon (2.08 m for 114 kg) and the sharp Jesus Herrera (23 pts, best scorer of the meeting). They made the difference in a very important and suspenseful third set by taking advantage at 24-24, precisely, of two faults by Herrera in service and then in attack. The Cubans then plunged physically at the end of the fourth round against the battering of the Italian youth, the sharp Yuri Romano in the lead (14 pts).
A little earlier, the Slovenians, finalists of the last Euro against Italy, had more easily dismissed Germany (25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22), carried in particular by their receiver-attacker Klemen Cebulj (19 pts, top scorer). Like Tuesday in the pools, they again dominated the Germans, who however this time snatched a set from them, the third, in which the host’s success rate in attack plunged (28% against 58% and 70% in the first two rounds). The Slovenians quickly recovered in the fourth set, inflicting an 11-4 (from 3-5 to 14-9) to take a sufficient lead despite a slight scare late in the set.
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