Four years after the last time, Cucine Lube Civitanova smiles again and, in front of the sold-out Unipol Arena in Bologna, raises its 8th Coppa Italia to the sky, in the 47th edition of the Del Monte® Coppa Italia. A fulfilling and satisfying path followed by Giampaolo Medei’s men who, after overcoming Allianz Milano in the Quarter Finals, were appreciated – and applauded – by the over 9,000 spectators who watched Sunday’s Final live from the Unipol Arena January 26th, second act after the Semifinal which rewarded Civitanova against Itas Trentino. The success against Rana Verona earned the Marche team the conquest of their 26th trophy. Below are the statements of some of the protagonists of the Cucineri victory in the Del Monte® Coppa Italia Final.
Fabio Balaso (Captain Cucine Lube Civitanova): “The victory was not at all a given and it came after two tie-break sporting battles. We played good volleyball in the first two sets, then we dropped, mainly thanks to them. We were in difficulty, but then we started aggressively in the fifth set. I thank my teammates for their contribution and commitment in the gym. I thank the Predators and all the spectators at the Unipol Arena. This is a new cycle with many young people, there are good foundations for the next few years, but we must continue to work hard.”
Aleksandar Nikolov (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “All 14 players contributed, indeed all the staff did. It’s a team victory. This is all incredible. It’s my first professional trophy. I want to thank everyone, now let’s continue like this. Now I feel good. The past year was the worst year of my life, I’m happy to have contributed to winning the Italian Cup. Everyone now knows that we are the Champions of the Italian Cup and that we will try to win when we have the opportunity. The change of role? I am always available to the team as are my teammates. I put myself at the service of the team and fought together with the others trying to make my contribution. We suffered a lot on the pitch, but our reaction was like a great team. We don’t want to stop here. We have to work to grow.”
Mattia Boninfante (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “On a personal level, Bologna brings me luck because two years ago with Prata I won an A3 Italian Cup with the same dynamic. I hope we continue to play the Final Four in Bologna. Nobody would have bet on a Final between Civitanova and Verona. It’s fitting that the Final was decided by another tie-break because there was so much balance on the pitch between these teams. We did well to achieve this intensity of play in the two days of the Del Monte® Coppa Italia”
Mattia Bottolo (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “This is a group victory, we also demonstrated it against Trento with the entry of Poriya who changed the match. We demonstrated this by making use of Nikolov in place 2. Just as we have been showing it since the start of the season and the determination we put into the celebrations. We have no problems between us, but we are hard workers with a great desire to win. Good and crazy? Maybe, at least the audience is having fun. Jokes aside, better crazy and successful. I congratulate the staff and teammates. It’s not easy in a year with so many unknowns to push as we did and cultivate this understanding in the group. We want to continue to grow.”
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “A deserved team victory on the birthday of my son Mattia, who celebrated his fifth birthday on Sunday. I dedicate the victory to him. In this Del Monte® Italian Cup we won all the matches on tie-breaks, even in the Quarter Finals. We have always fought until the end so we wear these medals around our necks with honor. For me, this is my fourth personal Italian Cup and it’s nice to have raised it to the skies with this shirt like the first one I won.”
Giampaolo Medei (coach Cucine Lube Civitanova): “I dedicate this trophy to my wife Enrica because too many times my work has taken me far and she has remained patiently waiting for me and cheering for me. I am happy and proud to have contributed as head coach to bringing Lube to the top step of the podium. This is a special club for me, I’m happy. The boys were really good at respecting the objective, that is, expressing themselves with the best volleyball possible. Verona’s change of structure created problems for us from the third set, but we managed not to give up and come back. From Tuesday we will reset and start again in view of the next objectives.”
Fabio Giulianelli (owner of the Lube Group): : “I’ve been waiting a long time to release these statements to get a few pebbles out of my shoes. Many things have been said and I hear many voices around me, but here at Lube no one gives up. Indeed, we care a lot about our team , to our boys and to this project. Lube takes to the field to leave its mark and always tries to win, he demonstrated it in these two days.”
Albino Massaccesi (CEO and Vice President of Cucine Lube Civitanova):: “This is the 26th trophy won with Lube, obviously you never get tired. Especially in a time of reconstruction. This is a team set up to become successful over time, but we are managed to forge ahead. This gives us serenity because we are convinced that we have made the right choices. Now we can celebrate the eighth Italian Cup, a very important trophy for us. We hope to further increase the number before being reached by those who have it less”.
Giuseppe Cormio (General Manager of Cucine Lube Civitanova): : “Sorry if we won ahead of schedule, beyond even the wildest predictions. I embraced this new project by mutual agreement with the owners and the victory came thanks to the contribution of We will all continue to work to achieve further satisfaction.”
