The Italian men’s national volleyball team has arrived in Messina. The team trained by coach Ferdinando De Giorgi has crossed the Strait and is ready, after the first match of the Fipav Cup Men Elitè played last night in Reggio Calabria (an evening that will remain in history for a first set that lasted an hour and a half and with a record score of 64-66), to now dive into the double match in Messina against Cuba and Brazil scheduled for tomorrow evening and Sunday evening at the Pala Rescifina. There is great anticipation in Messina to see the Italian volleyball champions up close, fresh from victory at last year’s world championship in the Philippines and eager to do well in the next European championship which will be played in Italy, Bulgaria, Finland and Romania. The two matches scheduled in Messina represent the last two tests for Giannelli and his teammates before their debut in the continental event scheduled for 10 September in Naples in the wonderful setting of Piazza del Plebiscito.
The arrival in Messina. Basile: “We are happy to have you here and we are rooting for you”
The team arrived in Messina aboard a hydrofoil, crossing the Strait. Also waiting for her on the port quay, together with the mayor Basile, was the second in command of the Port Authority of Messina, CF Davide Guzzi. The Port Authority of Messina reserved a warm and evocative welcome for the athletes, made even more spectacular by the jets of water raised by a port tug, which accompanied the arrival of the Azzurri in the city.
The mayor’s welcome represents a concrete sign of the active role of the municipal administration in the organization and valorization of an event that brings Messina to the center of national and international sporting attention. “We are proud to welcome the Italian national team to Messina and to be protagonists of an event of this level – declared mayor Basile -. The FIPAV Cup Men Elite represents an extraordinary opportunity for our city, not only from a sporting point of view, but also for the promotion of the territory and its image. Having Italy, Brazil, Cuba and Germany here means offering Messina four days of great entertainment and, at the same time, strengthening our ability to host events of international importance”.
“The Municipality of Messina strongly believed in this event and worked so that the city could experience this important event as a protagonist. Sport is an extraordinary vehicle for promotion and represents an opportunity to make Messina known to an increasingly wider audience. I extend my warmest welcome to the boys of the Italian national team: we are happy to have you here and we are rooting for you”, added Mayor Basile.
For Messina it is an event of particular sporting and media importance, capable of combining the competitive dimension with that of the promotion and valorisation of the city. The arrival of the Azzurri, welcomed by Mayor Basile directly upon their landing, officially kicks off a long weekend dedicated to international sport and confirms the municipal administration’s desire to make Messina an increasingly attractive city for major sporting events. Tomorrow, Friday 28 August, the official start of the FIPAV Cup Men Elite 2026: Messina is ready to experience four days of great international volleyball.