Italy hope to seal last-four place quickly

Dubai: Italy hope to seal their place in the FIVB Men’s U23 World Championship semi-finals before their final Pool B encounter with a top-quality Cuba side at the Al Nasr indoor hall on Saturday.

Italy and Cuba are the two unbeaten teams in the group, while Russia and Turkey have identical 3-0 records in Pool A, which is being played at Al Ahli’s indoor stadium.

Friday’s match against Asian champions Iran will be a true test for Michele Totire’s Italy, but they will be desperate for a win before they take on Cuba in their last preliminary round match the following day.

“Both Iran and Cuba are big teams, so playing against either of them will be a big challenge. In a way, we are pleased with the one-day break [on Thursday] as it will give us a freshness before we play Iran and Cuba,” Totire told Gulf News after his side secured their third win on the trot with a 3-1 (25-15, 29-31, 25-22, 25-18) result against South Korea on Wednesday.

“We need to think one day at a time. Right now we have Iran on our minds. And from an Italian point of view, Iran is a little more important as they hold the first possibility for us [in qualifying to the semi-finals]. Cuba is next, and it would be better if we win against Iran before playing against Cuba.

“The players have done well and for that I have given them a free day [on Thursday]. But there is no such thing as free time for the rest of my staff as we all need to be working overtime to ensure we win against Iran.”