Coach Marco Bonitta heads towards his players celebrating the victory over Puerto Rico
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 14, 2016 – Italy’s coach Marco Bonita commended the spirit and determination shown by his team in the last match of the tournament when they battled hard in a meaningless contest between winless sides against Puerto Rico.Marco Bonitta, Coach of Italy: We finally got a victory and leave the tournament with that good taste. It was not special as it was not important for the result of the tournament, but it was important for us as a team. We showed that we wanted to win. It is sport, it is what it is.
Juan Carlos Nuñez, Coach of Puerto Rico: We wanted to be at the big leagues and this is what to get when you play against the big teams. The experience I got is that if you want to play against these teams with some degree of success you have to play with them more often. We need to restructure our volleyball.
On the strong pool:We played in a solid group. You just think that Italy, the top team in the Japan qualifier, is not even making the quarterfinals. But we could have done better. We didn’t have consistency or an outstanding player to carry the team.
Antonella del Core, Captain of Italy: It was wonderful to go out winning a match. We stayed close to each other during the matches and it is good to win, no matter the way or against you win.
Karina Ocasio, Player of Puerto Rico: We are disappointed about not winning a set but we did a good try. It has been a good experience the journey to the Olympics and to be surrounded by so many elite athletes. Personally it is my last match with the national team and it was a good way to close my career with the team at the Olympics.