Italy boast 13 world champs on De Giorgi’s extended VNL roster

The names of as many as 13 of the 14 athletes, who lifted Italy to the world title at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship last year, appeared on the list of 30 national team players for the upcoming campaign in Volleyball Nations League 2023, announced by head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi at a press conference held at Milan’s Museum of Science and Technology on Tuesday.

Some of the players from the squad that won the continental title at the 2021 CEV European Championship, like 26-year-old libero Alessandro Piccinelli and 23-year-old middle blocker Lorenzo Cortesia, who played in VNL 2022, but not at the World Championship, are also back on De Giorgi’s list.

The only one missing among the world champions is 26-year-old opposite Giulio Pinali, but a notable absence is also that of 34-year-old star and former team captain Ivan Zaytsev, a two-time Olympic medallist and a three-time Olympian, who has been in and out of the national team in recent years.

Quite clearly, De Giorgi will continue to rely on a lot of young players. His list includes several newcomers from Italy’s U21 world champions’ line-up in 2021 like Dream Team Outside Hitter Tommaso Rinaldi (also MVP of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men’s U19 World Championship), Dream Team Setter Paolo Porro (also MVP of the 2022 CEV U22 European Championship), Dream Team Libero Damiano Catania and outside Giulio Magalini, in addition to already established star Alessandro Michieletto.

Another name on the list that draws the attention is that of 18-year-old 2.02m-tall opposite Alessandro Bovolenta, MVP of the 2022 CEV U20 European Championship and son of the late Italian legend Vigor Bovolenta.

“I think the path we've started is very interesting not only technically, but also in terms of values ​​to build solid foundations,” said De Giorgi. “We will have to continue to be as humble as we have been in the past seasons. However, we will have to be aware that we are a competitive group and still have plenty of room for growth. This year there will be many challenges to overcome and we certainly won't get bored. As usual we will give our best to make our country proud.”

Italy, currently number two in the FIVB World Ranking, will play their first VNL 2023 match on June 6 in Ottawa, Canada against Argentina. In competition week two of the Preliminary Phase, they will play in the pool in Rotterdam, Netherlands, before travelling to Pasay City, Philippines for week three, in an effort to qualify for the Finals in Gdansk, Poland from July 19 through 23. Then they will try to defend their continental title at EuroVolley 2023, which they will co-host with Bulgaria, Israel and North Macedonia from August 28 through September 16. To end the season, the world champions will travel to Brazil from September 30 through October 8, where they will compete in an FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier against the hosts, Cuba, Czechia, Germany, Iran, Qatar and Ukraine for two vacancies at next year’s Olympic Games in France.

Italy men’s national team full roster:

Setters: Marco Falaschi, Paolo Porro, Riccardo Sbertoli, Simone Giannelli
Opposites: Alessandro Bovolenta, Fabrizio Gironi, Lorenzo Sala, Tommaso Guzzo, Yuri Romano
Outside hitters: Alessandro Michieletto, Daniele Lavia, Davide Gardini, Francesco Recine, Giulio Magalini, Mattia Bottolo, Oreste Cavuto, Tommaso Rinaldi
Middle blockers: Edoardo Caneschi, Giovanni Sanguinetti, Gianluca Galassi, Leonardo Mosca, Lorenzo Cortesia, Marco Vitelli, Roberto Russo, Simone Anzani
Liberos: Alessandro Piccinelli, Damiano Catania, Fabio Balaso, Filippo Federici, Leonardo Scanferla

• Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 on VBTV

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