Tokyo, Japan, September 22, 2015 - Gian Lorenzo Blengini was relieved to see Italy come out of their five-set match against Argentina on the winning side.
Italy coach Gian Lorenzo Blengini: I'm very happy to win. It was a tough match. I'm very happy to win. I expected a difficult match. We tried to minimize our errors. They served well and received well. They have a good setter. Our serves were good and that gave us good opportunities. On the serves I always tell the players to hit to the weaknesses of the opponents. I sometimes give specific directions about targeting specific players.
Argentina coach Julio Velasco: It was a nice match. They won and have the possibility to qualify for Rio. We are sad because Italy played better than us in the final points. Their jump serves made it tough for us. We started 3-0 down in the fifth set but we came back and had a chance to win. I hope we can recover and play tomorrow. We did not expect to qualify for the Olympics directly from here, but we will fight to the last match. We have the South American qualifying tournament in Venezuela in October.
Italy captain Simone Buti: It was a satisfying victory. I thought today would be an important match. Argentina is always a tough opponent. I'm happy to win in five sets. Now we have to get ready for tomorrow's match. Argentina was good at tosses today. The fifth set was good. Either team could have won.
Argentina captain Luciano De Cecco: It was a great match. We enjoyed and learned a lot from this experience. We hope that Italy will qualify for the Rio Games.
Argentina player Luciano Zornetta: It was a great game. Italy is a high-level team. They are always a good rival. I used to think Italy was better than us, but after today I know now that we are equal.