Forty-two points. Italy still left in a semi-final. In Brno on 2 September Sweden led 1-0 and sat two points from 2-0. Isabelle Haak produced a night other tournaments put in a frame. Paola Egonu answered with 27. Final: 3-1, sets 21-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-23. The point gap for the match was four, 97-93. This was not world champions rolling a pool. This was a quarter-final in which Italy nearly copped the biggest shock of the Euros.
How they held the second set
Sweden took the first 25-21 and led 23-21 in the second. Italy stole it 26-24. Then 25-21, and the fourth went tight again: Italy at 17-12, Haak and Hellvig back to 22-20. Italy levelled and closed. Sweden won the block 9-4 and aces 4-3. Italy won the attack — 51 percent to 43 — and made eight unforced errors in four sets, Sweden fifteen. Eight of your own at this level is almost sterile. Haak is still the tournament’s top scorer. Sweden leave with their heads up. Italy leave on a Thursday-morning charter to Istanbul, already knowing the semi is Poland or the Netherlands.
In the afternoon in the same hall Serbia left no plot. Greece 3-0, Bošković 17, Uzelac 15, Tica 12. Antouli and Tikmanidou had nine each for Greece. Zoran Terzić is in a Euro semi again, a fourth championship in a row. Serbia’s opponent is the winner of Turkey vs Germany.
What it changes by Saturday
The 5 September grid at Sinan Erdem already reads. Italy, after a five-set match in character even if it was four sets on the sheet, do not look like a machine. Serbia do. Turkey play at home tonight. If the hosts go through, Serbia vs Turkey becomes the weekend’s main. If Germany go through, Serbia get an easier poster, not an easier match. Haak’s Euro is over. Italy’s is not. They still have to play in Istanbul, with no more 23-21 in the second set to spend.
