WORLD No. 8 Argentina displayed nerves of steel when the going got tough, overcoming a two-set deficit to deny Finland’s upset bid with a pulsating 19-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11 victory on Sunday in the 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship at the Araneta Coliseum.
Playing their first preliminary game in Pool C, the Argentinians initially struggled against Finland’s attacking style, but found a way through their defense, forcing the Fins to commit most of their 31 errors in the last three sets.
“It is so difficult to play the first match in the World Championship,” Pablo Kukartsev of Argentina said after nailing 20 points on top of 16 attacks, three blocks and one service ace. “We saw it at the beginning of the tournament, and a lot of strong teams lost their first match.
“You never know what can happen. We started really nervously. A lot of stupid mistakes, and Finland played an incredible game, applause for them.”
When the Fins started committing errors, Argentina kept the game close in the third set before Luciano Palonsky and veteran Luciano de Cocco led them to the comeback win.
Finland took a 10-4 lead in the fourth set but squandered this as Argentina rallied to force the deciding set.
The last set was a collective effort for Argentina, with the 26-year-old Palonsky firing two consecutive attacks to power them to a 13-9 advantage before Finland fell prey to two straight errors after closing in at 11-14.
“Everyone here is very nice, and everyone treats us very well. I am very, very happy to come back to the Philippines after my first arrival in Manila in 2022 during the Volleyball Nations League,” Palonsky said.
Joonas Jokela led No. 18 Finland with 25 attacks and one service point for 26 points, while Luka Marttila had 18 points on top of 15 kills and three blocks.
Argentina’s next opponent will be No. 26 South Korea on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., while Finland hopes to bounce back against No. 4 France at 6 o’clock.
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