How did Your adventure with voleyball start?
I started to play volleyball when I was 7 years old, because in my region also in my town volleyball has been very popular.
And You never thought of playing any other sport than volleyball?
No, only volleyball. My father was also a setter, he played in 1970s, my brother is a spiker, receiver, so we are family of Volleyball.
Do You have any Volleyball authority?
For me, as a setter, Vullo or lately also Vermiglio.
When have You decided to play in Poland , in Gdańsk?
Last summer
Why?
After the season in Budva I had recieved an offer from France and Italy Later I got a call from Andrea, we discussed this project I also spoke with other guys – Seba and Murphy about this and I’ve decided to come here.
Is the way that Andrea Anastasi trains you different from what other trainers do?
Honestly he has a lot of experience and he knows exactly how to work with every group. I think, It’s impossible to work every time with the same attitude, same exercises for every group. I know that he worked with some Italian teams one way, with the Polish national team for a long time, as well as with the Spanish national team in a totally different way. I spoke with other guys about him, because I have never worked with him before this season, and they all told me only good things about him. Honestly, after this season I can’t say anything bad about him. I can’t say it was perfect, because perfect doesn’t exist, but almost. He is also a human. He understands exactly when one guy is tired, can’t work a particular way because he has a problem. But Andrea can also push the team to do a bit more when we are ready to fight for something. I think he knows exactly how to work with this group.
Do You see any differences between places You have played before and Poland? I mean atmosphere, fans…
The atmosphere is amazing here, especially after World Championship – it’s fantastic. In this season I played a few times in front of 11 thousands people on Ergo Arena and for me it was an amazing time. Poland is perfect, because fans are crazy about volleyball and for me it is paradise. When You go to other citys, You can always find fans that will ask You for a photo or autograph and it’s very nice. You can feel that Polish people love voleyball and this is very important for us.
How do You feel after winning Puchar Polski?
Really crazy, because honestly we didn’t expect it. We knew that we are able to win with Skra, because we have done it a few times this season, but after that, with Rzeszów… They have an amazing team, not only 6 players, but 12, maybe even 14 that can be in starting six. But my team is crazy. We love playing volleyball, we love staying together and we are ready to fight with teams like Rzeszów and Skra which are better than us.
What do You feel about playing in final of Plus Liga?
I think this is the result of a long time of work. We started at 1st August, not all the players but most of them, and we worked with only one goal in mind – to compete with the best teams in Europe, because in my opinion Skra and Rzeszów are the best teams in Europe at this time. Final Four in Berlin showed that Poland is probably the best place to play Volleyball.
What do You think about present system of Plus Liga? Would You like to change something?
I’ve heard that they want to change the Play Off for the next season. I think that the next season is going to be crazy, because we start in November and they want to shorten the Play Off, because the season will be too long. Besides we also have to prepare for Olympic Games. Honestly I think that Play Off is the best moment in the season, also for the fans to watch the best volleyball period. But it is not for me to decide about it. I love playing in Play Off because it has a different atmosphere and it is purely amazing. Honestly I would love to play in Play Off for the next season, but it’s not my decision to make.
If not Lotos Trefl Gdańsk, in which other club or country would You like to play?
No, come on, I want to stay here. If not Lotos, another place in Poland because I feel really good here. Gdańsk is an amazing city, You can find everything here, and it’s a very nice region. I would like to play in Poland also for the next season.
Thank you for the talk and good luck on the match.
Thank you. We will see what will happen.
