Wilfredo León and Osmani Juantorena face off in Olympic volleyball

July 27, 2021

In the most anticipated match for Cuban volleyball fans, the teams from Poland and Italy faced off during the second day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic tournament. The main focus was undoubtedly on the two main attackers of both teams, Wilfredo León and Osmani Juantorena.

The first set clearly favored the Poles 25-20, where León was fundamental with 7 points, 6 in attacks and one in service, while Juantorena finished with 3 points in attacks.

The second set was the most closely contested, extending beyond 25 points, but success again went to the Poles 26-24; once again León contributed, adding another 6 points, including his second ace of the match. Juantorena would repeat the same number of points as in the first set.

After the close victory in the second period, Poland concluded the task quickly, winning again 25-20 against the Olympic runners-up who were defeated across the board. León had his most modest set here, contributing 5 points and also achieving his third service point of the match. Juantorena, as in the preceding sets, supported his team with 3 more points.

Overall, Wilfredo León was the match's leading scorer with 18 points, 3 of them in service and one in blocking, his first of the tournament. Juantorena, for his part, was tied with Alessandro Michieletto, the leading scorer for the Italian team with 9 points, all in attacks.

Making a comparison between the two Cubans, we have that León surpasses Juantorena by a small margin, with a 53.9% effectiveness rate (63-34), compared to 52.7 (55-29) for the one wearing Italian colors.

Regarding blocking, both are very evenly matched and it has been a weakness for both, as they have barely managed one point this way in the two matches played, although León surpasses him with fewer errors, 4 to 9.

In service, León has been a real headache, already adding 6 aces, compared to none for Juantorena. The positive for Osmani is that he has made very few service errors, just 4, compared to 10 for León, of course, the Cuban-Pole takes much more risk.

In reception both have been brilliant, the Italian has failed 4 times compared to 3 for the Pole, although Juantorena adds 9 more receptions.

In defense, Juantorena has been impeccable, barely 2 errors, both in the second match, while León made 4 mistakes, although here Wilfredo has had 5 more actions.

Without a doubt we are talking about two of the most important attackers today and today we had the pleasure of seeing them together, although on opposite ends, in the same match. Today Poland won the battle, but the road to the title is just beginning, there is still a long way to go.

For now that's all, see you next time.