Once again, using several reserve players worked well for Italy's win
Frank Depestele - Belgium captain: "Congratulations to Italy, they put us in trouble in counterattack, serve, defence and block. It was a tough game for us. Our first set was good and intense, but afterwards I didn't know what to expect, they were playing much better and we lost our good momentum. Italy studied us really well and used it against us."
Emanuele Birarelli - Italy captain: "For us, it was a crucial match for staying in the tournament for the next phase. We still have to work on our approach; this is another match that we lose the first set. In the fourth set the Belgian were almost dead, but they started to get closer and found enough strength to come back. But we let them do that. We need to work on that, to not lose our concentration in such situations."
Dominique Baeyens - Belgium coach: "I'm disappointed not only about the result, but with how we played in certain moments. But it's a tournament, we can't play at our best all the time and I know it. Sometimes we need to be more patient and sometimes we need to show more character. That's what we were lacking today. Now I need to prepare my team for next two games because anything can happen here."
Mauro Berruto - Italy coach: "A nervous start and a nervous ending of the match. We kept concentration and good level for two and a half sets. Our block and reception were good, but we still have to work to keep our level the same from beginning to end. We still need to improve, but the most important is that we earned three points today. We are optimistic about our condition, I changed some players today and it worked well. We're prepared for this long tournament."