ALAS Pilipinas Men head Angiolino Frigoni admitted that he is pressed for time, as the national team’s preparations for the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in Manila this September reaches the home stretch.
With 92 days left before the global conclave hits local shores, Frigoni is aiming to play roughly ’27 or 28 more matches’ to build a national team as tight-knit and equipped for the world stage as possible.
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His plan for now is to bring Alas back to Europe and sharpen the nationals’ core in the region of the world where the barometer of competitive men’s volleyball has long been set.
“Before the World Championship, we were supposed to play more or less, I think, 27 or 28 matches more. We still have the SEA Games, and after, we are going to tour in Bahrain again and in Romania again, in Portugal, and we play matches against them. They are all teams except Bahrain that will be here in the World Championship,” Frigoni said.
“This for us is very important to play because these players, they don't have a very good experience in a player high level tournament. And what we will do on the World Championship, we will say just after we finish the World Championship.”
‘Clutch’ final 14 for Alas
Within that near three-month stretch, the Italian mentor still has to deal with the responsibility of forming his final 14 for the worlds.
How he plans to face that challenge is to submit an 18-player shortlist and let the rest of the national team management make the last four cuts.
At least for this ordeal, he’s not pressed for time.
There won’t be any shoo-ins for Frigoni, but the more a player participates in training camps and friendly matches, the higher the chances will be of breaking into the final 14.
"I don't have any timetable. The timetable is one day before we have a general meeting before the World Championship,” Frigoni said.
“I can select 18 players, that's ok, because we have a big group in case somebody gets injured, in case they are out of condition, and everything. I will make a list, a big list, 18 players. From there, I will select. If they will have more opportunity to play [before the Worlds], they have more chances to be on the [final] 14 for the World Championship.”
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