Poland's women's volleyball team beat the Netherlands 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the European Championship, sending them through to a semi-final against Italy on Saturday, September 5, at 18:00 Polish time.
Before the quarterfinal, head coach Stefano Lavarini told Interia that reaching the medal games was a step the team wanted very much to take, adding that it was a dream and that they would fight one hundred percent to make it happen.
Group stage form
Poland head into the semi-final unbeaten so far in the tournament. During the group stage they beat Turkey, the defending champions, 3-2, a result that underlined they should not be written off despite not being favourites against Italy.
Former Poland international Joanna Podoba-Malicka, a two-time European champion in 2003 and 2005, said in comments to Polsat Sport that Poland's continued unbeaten run at Euro 2026 was significant.
She said the two sides' earlier meeting in Koszalin had been without significance, since it came during the preparation phase, and should not be dwelt on. She said this time should be different, since Italy were only interested in gold while Poland had nothing to lose, meaning they could write a beautiful chapter of history.
What Poland must do to beat Italy
Podoba-Malicka noted that Poland have struggled at times against Latvia and Hungary, yet went on to play strong matches against Slovenia, Germany and, most recently, the Netherlands, losing only a single set across those games. She said Poland were clearly not approaching the Italy match as favourites, and that facing a team like Italy required a completely different level of mobilisation. She added that simply repeating the level shown against the Netherlands would not be enough.
She said Poland's players knew their opponents were difficult, top-tier opposition who had to be treated with great caution, adding that the team would need to summon 110 percent rather than 100. She said Italy would also treat the match seriously after being warned by Sweden, who took a set off them while the remaining sets were close.
According to Podoba-Malicka, Italy have problems of their own: Paola Egonu has been making mistakes, their middle blockers can be contained, and they can be unsettled with serve pressure and pushed away from the net. She said this was clearly not the same Italian side as a year ago, when they won everything.
What comes next
The other semi-final, between Serbia and Turkey, is scheduled to take place before the Poland-Italy match. Poland will face the winner of that tie in the final, or the loser in the match for bronze.
