Without team captain and star opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz, the Dutch team got 11 points from opposite Stijn Van Tilburg, nine from middle blocker Siebe Korenblek and eight from outside hitter Marteen Van Garderen.
On Thursday, the Italians secured the title of the friendly tournament with another four-set (23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 26-24) victory, this time against Bulgaria. Romanò was once again the Italian leading scorer with another 17 points, followed by outside hitter Tommaso Rinaldi and middle blocker Lorenzo Cortesia with 13 each and Bottolo, with 12. Bulgarian opposite Dimitar Dimitrov led all scorers with 21 points.
“It was great to have these tests against teams that could create difficulties for us,” De Giorgi analysed. “We will need our entire squad in the VNL because it’s a long tournament and this is the group that will start in the first week. Some players will be back for the second week, but everyone will have an opportunity. It’s very important to win matches in the VNL because of the ranking points and getting these two matches was important to break the ice for the new guys too.”
