For Mattia Bottolo, Italy’s march back to the semifinals of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship is less about expectations and more about a dream fulfilled.
“It was not a goal for us, but it was a dream to come again to this Top 4 in the World Championship,” Bottolo said after helping steer the defending champions to a 25-13, 25-18, 25-18 sweep of Belgium in the quarterfinals.
The outside hitter acknowledged that repeating their 2022 breakthrough was never guaranteed, noting how much the global competition has intensified in recent years.
Italy, which lifted the World Championship trophy three years ago, has since faced tough results in other major tournaments — finishing fourth and fifth in the 2023 and 2024 Volleyball Nations League, and settling for fourth at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But reaching the Final Four again, Bottolo stressed, proves that the Azzurri remain on track.
“It is difficult to repeat the same story because the level of teams around the world is becoming more even,” said the 25-year-old, who contributed 10 points against Belgium.
“For us, reaching this stage shows that we can keep growing and demonstrate how strong Italy is in the world,” he added, as the squad now prepares for a semifinal clash against either Poland or Turkey.
Bottolo also shared that Italy entered the tournament with a renewed mentality, agreeing as a group to reset and approach the competition with the same hunger that fueled their title run in 2022.
“At the beginning of the tournament, we had a conversation together and said that we have to start again, thinking as we did in 2022 before the World Championship,” he explained.
“You have to think of yourself as an outsider and not as a powerhouse, because the attention you put onto the court every match is the key to beating strong teams — and even to not losing against the ones who don’t respect you.”
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