08/03/2021 2:51 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 08/03/2021 15:02
If I have to look for the reasons why the Argentine volleyball team reaches
the historic semifinal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, I
find two key words:
process and maturity
.
I saw these guys grow up who, in many cases, are already ten years in the national team: the base debuted at the 2010 World Cup and plays its third Olympic Game in Japan.
And the growth is not only technical, they also matured tactically and collectively.
The backbone of the team
, the one that football fans say is satisfied with a good goalkeeper, a two, a five and a 9, is clear: Argentina has in
Luciano De Cecco one of the best point guards in the world
that it offers to his teammates a low margin of error and a lot of game volume.
Sebastián Solé and Facundo Conte are the ones who complete this team structure
.
But there is more: Ezequiel Palacios is no longer a promise and Bruno Lima is another reality.
They are players who bonded well and at a high level.
I don't want to forget about Loser, with a tremendous championship.
And the coach is an added value: Marcelo Méndez, who was trained in River and came victorious from Cruzeiro in Brazil, is very knowledgeable about the current situation of the players and assembled them perfectly.
Argentina does not have a foundation on which it stands out
: its strength is consistency.
In this process, the team managed to have great moments of play that previously lasted a while and now they are able to sustain it for two hours and against elite teams.
That is its greatest virtue.
Now, the National Team has just struck and reaches the semifinals, but in the last two Olympic Games it had been in fifth place, it was not that far.
The comparisons are hateful and arbitrary, but if you ask me,
I see things similar to this team to the one that achieved the historic bronze medal in Seoul 88
.
The litter of players is similar, but this one had more time to train and work to reach an Olympic semifinal.
That is a plus point.
France is coming and a great chance.
Argentina already beat him, but they are two teams that have a similar profile.
They have a lot of defense and little error, it will be an even match.
It is a match that will be defined in the details, but the National Team has the head to do it: it has already shown it, it can lose a set and the focus of the match does not change.
This morning, when the National Team beat a power like Italy, it took a big leap and still has to grow.
I see him solid in his game and very strong in the head and that generates great expectations.
Argentina is in a position to win in these semifinals.
* Javier Weber was part of the historic volleyball team that won bronze in Seoul 88. Today he directs the Taubaté de San Pablo
Look also
Tokyo 2020: the secrets of the volleyball team to make history and dream of a medal
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, day 12: minute by minute, live
Tokyo 2020: he was beaten and left in a wheelchair, but they gave him up for the fight