World Champions for the second consecutive time. The Italian national team, featuring middle blocker Gianluca Galassi and libero Domenico Pace, players for Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza, won the gold medal at the World Championships held in the Philippines. For Gianluca Galassi, this is the second consecutive World Championship title after the one he won in Poland in 2022.
A magnificent Italy team defeated Bulgaria 3-1 (25-21, 25-17, 17-25, and 25-10) in the final to become World Champions. This is the fifth World Championship title for the Azzurri, following those won in 1990, 1994, 1998, and 2022; the second in a row.
It’s also a fifth World Championship victory for Coach De Giorgi, who adds two more as a coach to his three as a player (1990-1998). Today, De Giorgi also reached 100 victories as Italy coach. His former teammates, assistant coach Marco Meoni (1998 world champion) and Giacomo Giretto (1994), the latter winning his second consecutive gold medal as team manager, also added a world title to their roster, adding to those they won as players.
Five individual awards were given to the Italian team: MVP Alessandro Michieletto, best setter Simone Giannelli, best opposite hitter Yuri Romanò, best libero Fabio Balaso, and best spiker Alessandro Michieletto.
World Champions
Palleggiatori: Simone Giannelli, Riccardo Sbertoli
Centrali: Gianluca Galassi, Simone Anzani, Giovanni Gargiulo, Roberto Russo
Schiacciatori: Mattia Bottolo, Alessandro Michieletto, Luca Porro, Francesco Sani
Opposti: Kamil Rychlicki, Yuri Romanò
Liberi: Fabio Balaso, Domenico Pace
Lo staff è composto da Ferdinando De Giorgi (Commissario Tecnico), Massimo Caponeri (2° Allenatore), Marco Meoni (Assistente Allenatore), Nicola Giolito (Preparatore Atletico), Marco Penza (Medico), Franceco Alfatti e Fabio Rossin (Fisioterapisti), Ivan Contrario (Scoutman), Giacomo Giretto (Team Manager), Giuliano Bergamaschi (Pedagogista).
