It was not expected that the Cuban men’s team volleyball had such a complicated first round of life or death in the World Championship that has been held between Slovenia and Poland since last August 26, but a qualifying phase marked by doubts and disappointment for many fans has pushed the squad led by Nicolás You live directly to a duel against Italy, its traditional “black beast”.
The Antilleans started the event from the world in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, with a great match against Brazil, in which they were about to hit the table. Victories in the first two sets made the fans of Caribbean volleyball dream, but then that emotion faded with the spectacular comeback of the South Americans, who culminated in victory in five sets.
Although after the game the criterion prevailed that Cuba can fight against the best teams in the world, the reality is that the defeat and the circumstances in which it occurred did a lot of damage to the team, which subsequently has not been able to even come close to its best version. .
Against Qatar, second rival of the tournament, they were successful, but they left a set on the road and sent dangerous signals. In many moments of the game they gave the impression of accommodating or descending to the level of an inferior opponent, they gave away countless points for errors, the service was not as consistent as expected and the high command went unnoticed again, without the ability to modify strategies. and make changes when the team screamed for it.
Of course, those mistakes pay dearly if you’re facing a higher caliber opponent. Such is the case of Japan, which played with Cuba at will and he tipped him a blushing lunge in four quarters, of which three ended with less than 20 units for the Antilleans.
That balance of two defeats and one victory caused the Cuban relegation in the reorganization of the best 16 teams that advanced to the round of 16, instance in which they will face Italy, undefeated in three starts against Turkey, Canada and China, without losing a single set.
The Europeans are clear favorites in the match against Cuba, which will seek to work a miracle, since in their clashes in World Championships they have never beaten the Italians in direct elimination matches, the classic life or death matches. Precisely, we are going to review the duels that these two countries have had in the history of global conflicts.
Paris and the first battle
Italy is one of the founding countries of the men’s volleyball World Cups, as it participated in the premiere edition in Czechoslovakia, 1949. On that occasion, they obtained the eighth seat among ten participating nations. In those days, the transalpines were not the power that we know today in the sport of high mesh, in fact, their first stellar result was achieved in 1978, long after their debut in world events.
However, they were assiduous hosts of the World Cups (only the 1952 and 1960 editions were lost) and just in 1956 they met Cuba for the first time. That year, in Paris, the Antilleans lived their debut in these contests with a team led by Jacinto del Cueto, who is considered the “father of volleyball” on the Island.
The duel with the Italians took place on September 6 -next Tuesday they will be 66 years old- in a consolation round for the discussion of positions from 11 to 20. The Cubans had reached that instance after losing in the initial stage with Poland, while the azure carried a defeat against Romania, also in the first phase.
Already in the second round, the Italians won consecutively over South Korea, Austria and Israel, in their first three presentations, quite the opposite of Cuba, which could not make the cross against Belgium, Brazil and Portugal. Immersed in a spiral of negative results and colliding with numerous technical and tactical errors, the team could do little, which was swept in three sets, with scores of 15-10, 17-15 and 15-11.
Italy continued its triumphant pace, although in the end it added defeats to Brazil, Democratic Germany and the Netherlands, while Cuba managed to win two games against South Korea and Austria. In any case, neither of the two teams could be included in the Top-10 of the Parisian World Cup, since the transalpines finished in 14th place and the Caribbean in 19th.
Hand in hand in the 70’s
Italy and Cuba experienced a stage of learning, development and consolidation in men’s volleyball during the 60s and 70s of the last century. In that period, the Antilleans took considerable advantage, to the point that they achieved an Olympic bronze medal in Montreal 1976, while the Italians could not violate the dominance in the European context of the Soviets, Poles, Czechoslovaks, Romanians, Bulgarians and French.
In World Cups, Cubans and Italians did not meet until 1970, in the fight held in Bulgaria. After finishing the qualifying round in third and fourth place in their respective groups, the two teams advanced to the discussion for positions nine through 16.
In Yambol, a city in the southeast of Bulgaria, the Antilleans went out through the wide door in a close match that lasted five sets. The Italians took the lead with a 13-15 victory in the first set, Cuba turned around with consecutive smiles (15-6 and 17-15), but the Europeans put the tables with an unappealable 7-15 in the fourth set. Everything was served for him tie break, in which the Caribbean won 15-8. That win gave Cuba a chance to finish the tournament in 13th place, while Italy dropped to 15th with just one success in the consolation round.
History repeated itself at the 1974 World Cup in Mexico. Already established as one of the best teams in the Americas under the command of legendary coach Gilberto Herrera, Cuba came to the event hungry for wins and came through the group stage without the shadow of a setback, with Italy as its first victim.
In Guadalajara, the Antilleans opened with a 3-1 victory (15-13, 13-15, 15-13 and 15-2) against the Transalpines, and then ousted Venezuela and Democratic Germany to advance to the next phase, in which did not have the same luck. However, Cuba won a meritorious eighth seat at the end of the tournament, and the Italians bottomed out by placing 19th among 24 participants.
At that time, there was nothing to predict that Italy would achieve a leap in quality, but sport holds surprises for us. Four years later, as organizers of the ninth edition of the World Cup, the Europeans lived their first great triumphant experience with an amazing silver medal.
Italy beat Belgium, Egypt and China in the group stage, and in the second stage only succumbed to the Soviets (they defeated Brazil, Democratic Germany and Bulgaria), thus securing a spot among the top four teams in the fight. Cuba, meanwhile, reached the semifinals unbeaten with seven wins in a row over Argentina, Japan, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, South Korea, Mexico and Poland in the first two rounds.
Fate placed Italians and Cubans face to face in the fight for a ticket to the grand final, an instance that neither of them had reached before. In that first duel of life or death between the two, the hosts imposed their law in Rome, where they triumphed 3-1 (17-15, 11-15, 14-16 and 12-15). Later, the transalpines fell in the final against the Soviet Union, while the Antilleans kept the bronze after defeating South Korea.
There began a battle that, a few years later, became one of the greatest classics of men’s volleyball worldwide.
Cuba against the Generation of Phenomena
Italy’s stellar performance at the 1978 World Cup did not translate into immediate stability in the men’s volleyball elite. After the subtitle of that campaign, they went through a blank decade (they only won a bronze in the 1983 European Championship) until 1989, when they truly became protagonists in the international arena.
Just in 1989, the so-called “Generation of Phenomena” won the silver medal in the World Cup, after losing in the final against Cuba, which was experiencing its best moments in the sport of high mesh. Absolute dominators of the continental concert and regular fighters in the World Cups, the Antilleans appeared as one of the main rivals in the fight for the world top.
One of the duels for that throne occurred in 1990 during the world event, which was held in Brazil. There, Italians and Cubans were framed in the same key and their match ended with a comfortable victory for the Caribbean (3-0), who said goodbye undefeated in Brasilia, with a direct quota to the next stage in their pocket.
In definitive instances, the two were overcoming obstacles. Czechoslovakia, Argentina and Brazil could not stop the Italians between playoffs and semifinals, while Cuba got rid of the Netherlands and the Soviet Union to reach the final. On the other side of the net, the Italians were waiting for him.
In Rio de Janeiro, the two teams put on a great show in which the Europeans got the better of it with a 3-1 win. They lost the first one 15-12, but later they set the pace and took their first world crown with scores of 15-11, 15-6 and 16-14.
Although it did not reach tie break, the last moments of the duel were very exciting. For example, in the fourth round they were tied at 14 points, but Andrea Zorzi did damage with his serve. The receipt left the ball coming over the net and the Italians scored the 15th point.
From then on, they engaged in a great battle of 16 ball changes (remember that there was no such thing as rally point). Italy was about to win with a powerful serve by Zorzi against which Cuba could not complete a good complex one, but in the counterattack the Europeans were left wanting by a long attack by Luca Cantagali.
The West Indians survived all manner of onslaught, led by All-Star Joel Despaigne, who received 11 straight passes and scored six points in the closing of that quarter. However, the pressure was too much and the squad led by Orlando Samuels ended up losing by a point from Lorenzo Bernardi, who gave Italy its first world crown.
In 1994, the shares went down a similar path. Italy reissued its 1990 crown and in the semifinals they dispatched Cuba, which later also lost the bronze match against the United States.
In the Peaced and Friendship Stadium from Pireas, southeast of Greece, the Europeans won 3-1, although they had to sweat. Cuba led 11-6 in the first set, but the Italians went on a 9-1 run and took the victory 15-12, thanks to devastating serves from Lorenzo Bernardi, Andrea Zorzi and Andrea Giani.
The Caribbeans caught their breath in the second set with a 8-15 success, but in the third set the more consistent version of Italy returned, who won 15-8.
Winning a set in 20 minutes with the ball change scoring system was practically impossible, and the transalpines managed to unseat the Cubans in the fourth set in just 18 minutes. The Europeans literally swept the squad led by Juan Díaz, supported by the incisive service of Luca Cantagalli and Lorenzo Bernardi, the tight net game of Andrea Gardini, the constant threat of an experienced Andrea Zorzi and the powerful attack of Andrea Giani, a 24-year-old boy who was already assuming the role of star without complexes.
That Cuban team, for its part, had Ihosvany Hernández and Osvaldo Hernández as central defenders; Ricardo Vantes, Rodolfo Sánchez and Abel Sarmiento alternated as assistants, lefty Alexis Battle was the opposite, with Joel Despaigne coming off the bench
After that adventure in 1994, Cuba and Italy have only met once more in world events, exactly in 2006, a lawsuit settled with another victory for the Europeans. Two members of that Antillean squad from 16 years ago survive on the payroll of this World Cup: Robertlandy Simón and Michael Sánchez.
In total, Italy has won five games against Cuba in the history of the World Cups, while the Antilleans have three successes. However, in knockout matches the Europeans are undefeated in three outings. Will history change in 2022?
