Monica De Gennaro has made it official that she will no longer wear the national team shirt. The libero from Piano di Sorrento, born on 8 January 1987, had already made this intention known at the end of the World Cup won on 7 September in Bangkok.
For “Moki” as she is nicknamed, an infinite career which, since 3 January 2006 when she made her debut in blue, has seen her triumph around the world giving her precious contribution to the conquest of the 2011 World Cup, Eurovolley 2021, three Volleyball Nations League (2022, 2024 and 2025), the Olympic gold in Paris 2024 and the world title in 2025. Monica De Gennaro won the VNL MVP in the role of libero in 2025 and at the end of the World Championships she won the individual award for best libero.
«The time has come to say goodbye to the blue shirt, a shirt that I loved deeply, that I respected in every gesture, that I honored by putting my soul, body and heart into every match, for almost 20 years of my life – wrote De Gennaro – it is right to take a step back, to leave room for the new talents who are growing, strong and ready, and who I am sure will be able to write even more beautiful pages than those we have already experienced. I will miss travelling, training, taking to the pitch with the pride of representing Italy. I will miss the laughter in the locker room, the effort in training, even the disappointments, because even those made us stronger but above all, I will miss the emotions.” In the final part of the letter, De Gennaro thanks the technical commissioners “who believed in me” but also the family “always by my side, in the good moments and above all in the most difficult ones”. ‘Mokì concluded, «thank you, blue shirt. With infinite love…”. (AGI)