The case of Paola Egonu, who was considered one of the best volleyball players in the world, but was sidelined by the coach of the Italian national team Mazzanti, shed light on the relations between coaches and athletes: Let’s evaluate the situation.
Your ego case
Until recently, Paola Egonu, considered the crown jewel of Italian volleyball, was considered one of the stars of world volleyball. He is considered perhaps the strongest player today. Egonu, who is only 25 years old, has already won two Italian championships, five Italian Cups, one Turkish Cup, three Champions Leagues, one Club World Cup and countless individual awards as the best player in the competitions he participated in. .
Playing for the Italian national team brought her great popularity and given that Egonu has been a key element of the successes achieved in women’s Italvolley, she has responded with significant performances: European Championship victory in 2021, bronze in 2019, silver in 2018 and A bronze medal at the 2022 World Cups and then a Nations League victory again last year. Almost always, in all these tournaments, Your ego was selected for the ideal team and frequently won the MVP award.
Your ego and beyond: when coach and player don’t get along
Following the Italian national team’s defeat against Brazil in the 2022 World Cup semi-final, the girl from Cittadella had to deal with hundreds of racist insults from social media and then took a break to think out of the blue. shirt. The surprise of the bench, who returned to the team with the aim of the 2023 European Championship, was the following result, despite having very few minutes on the field: repeated misunderstandings with coach MazzantiIt seems like he’s the one Egonu has been hoping for to be dismissed over and over again.
There is no presence throughout the entirety of the Nations League, only a few glimmers in the first stage of the European Championship, which Mazzanti has publicly described as the “World Championship”. third choice in opposite role. In a real hara-kiri on the part of the Italian coach, he was forced to step back, albeit late, bringing Egonu onto the field against Turkey in the semi-finals and despite the defeat, received a significant performance in return. Finally, Italy remained without a medal and Egonu wrote after the end of the tournament in a post on Instagram that was later deleted: “Ugh, I’m free! Finally. It was the worst experience of my career.”
The last straw was the pre-Olympic tournament; After Egonu’s withdrawal from the team, Italy’s defeat against Poland and Azzurre’s participation in Paris 2024 were now in the balance. The inevitable question is whether Mazzanti’s decision was correct keep one of the best players in the world out, regardless of any misunderstandings that may occur. Whatever the answer, what is certain is that Italvolley are at risk of not going to the Olympics, while Mazzanti will almost certainly be replaced on the bench by the totem Julio Velasco.
Other recent cases from Osimhen to Jadon Sancho
The Egonu case is one of the most talked about right now, but sports history is full of arguments between coaches and athletes that ended badly. From the discussions between Sacchi and Van Basten to the elimination of Ronaldo Fenomeno at Inter Sacking Argentinian Hector Cuperbut there are also disagreements between De Giorgi and Zaytsev about remaining in volleyball. Football, after all, perhaps because it is more in the spotlight than other sports, has over time created an endless gallery of famous arguments between the field and the bench.
Among the most famous and current ones, it is worth remembering the match between Papu Gomez and Gasperini; The Argentine star hastily left Atalanta in January 2021 after seven years of success. Fight between Francesco Totti and Luciano Spalletti Just as the images of Delio Rossi losing his mind and physically attacking Fiorentina Serbian striker Adem Ljajić remain indelible in Rome.
However, the misunderstandings that have emerged in the Napoli dressing room stem from the last few weeks. Rudi Garcia and some of his stars. While Khvicha K’varatskhelia has twice previously shown that he does not appreciate the French coach’s changes, Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, the 2022/2023 Serie A top scorer, did not mention it to the former Roma and Lyon coach after his erroneous substitution in the 2022/2023 season. Bologna.
Finally, one of the most complicated and complicated cases in European football at the moment: a war of nerves between two teams. Jadon Sancho and Erik Ten Hag join Manchester United. The young English talent, who joined the Reds for 85 million euros in 2021, has not yet managed to establish himself at Old Trafford and was excluded from the squad by the Dutch coach, who accused him of not being committed to training.
Sancho, however, claims he was simply a scapegoat used to mask United’s difficult start in the league. What is certain is that Ten Hag had already announced that they would have to do this. Sancho’s official apology arrives, being able to dream of returning to the team. But it seems the apologies the Camberwell boy doesn’t want to make.
