Even as a kid Andrea showed exceptional physical features. His father, Dario, was a rower who had taken part in the 1964 Summer Olympics for Italy. After having trained with the father, Andrea tried his luck as a football player.But, in 1985 the 14 year old Giani began his career as a volleyball player in the local team of Sabaudia, in the Southern Latium, where he lived. His exceptional qualities attracted attention from the two main volleyball club of Italy of the period: Panini Modena and Santal (later Maxicono) Parma.

Giani was chosen to play for the latter, initially with the junior team under Gian Paolo Montali as coach. Giani’s first final for scudetto in the Parma’s major team was in 1987.  Giani won in 1990 his first scudetto.The same success he will repeat four time in his playing career. In 1998 Giani played his first cap for the Italian national team. His career with the Azzurri colours ended in 2005 after a total of 474 caps (record), becoming one of the most renowned players in Italy and in the world for his excellent technical and jumping capabilities. With Italy Giani won three world titles in a row (1990, 1994 and 1998) and four European (1993, 1995, 1999, 2003), and many others. He won three medals at the Olympic Games but his team never won the gold medal, even though Italy was generally considered the top favourites.

During his career Giani became renowned for his polyvalence: starting as a middle blocker, he turned into an equally effective power attacker and passer. Giani is considered one of the best blocker of 1990s for his capability to stay in the air far longer than the other players.

After having quit the national team, Giani played for Cimone Modena until 2008, taking the reins of the team as manager starting from season 2007-2008.

Samuele Papi was only a ballboy during training sessions when he entered the junior national team in 1992. Nonetheless there was always something about “Samu” and one day when he arrived at the gym to train with the national team, somebody changed his nickname: O’fenomeno – following Italian-Brazilian Renen Dal Zotto (Parma) due to his height and his similar way of playing. In that year, O’fenomeno took a quantum leap and before the start of the World Championships in Greece he left the bench to take his position on the court next to his former idols Zorzi, Giani and Gardini. Italy found a new star, 21-year-old Samuele Papi.

Anytime somebody asks him his height, he only smiles and says: ‘1.91m.’ In reality he is only 1.89m, but as he is a star now, he jokes and laughs about it. Being 30 years of age, he has already won a lot of titles with the clubs he played for (currently Sisley TREVISO) and, of course, with the Italian national team, too. Now that he is a veteran in Montali’s band, he is no longer the only one the girls ask for anymore: “In Italy there are some guys who are more successful than me with young women. I have served my time.”

He prefers peace to noise, loves volleyball, fast cars and reading car magazines. However, he has also dark periods in his career. Playing in Cuneo, for example, he faced several serious injuries. Samuele Papi had already thought about quitting volleyball, but eventually he found his own way and came back even stronger than before. Being the number one in Italy, some people still think that he is lazy due to his slow actions. However, this is not true: he is a calm man – and a big champion.

“The Spartan way of education and training was the only way to succeed”, he always said. “Our parents did all to put us on the right path, but never did they wish to make it an easy task. The motto was: sort it out yourselves! There is an interesting story from my childhood which was even published in some papers. My father played on the receiver’s position and, of course, I also wanted to play on that position, just like Vanja did. It did not mean anything to me to leave the player without the block, as all praise was meant for the spiker and never for me. I even complained to my mother, but my father was relentless. Finally, I accepted it without a word”, remembers Nikola Grbic his childhood days with a smile.

The very beginning of his playing career started in Zrenjanin and the second team of GIK Banat, where he played from 1988 to 1990, in a “very good” Vojvodina Division, as he emphasizes. After his two seasons at VC Vojvodina (1991-1993) and his military service, he changed from his uniform to VC Gabeca from Montechiari. The several successes and the international experience led him to the Yugoslavian national team. He changed clubs several times: TNT Traco Catagna, Gabeca and Alpitour from Cuneo, Sisley from Treviso, Asystel from Milan and Coprasystel from Piazenca.

“A lot of journalists said I seemed very cold and I’m calculating all the time during a match and I really like to do that,” says Grbic. “I don’t like looking at the gym or the referee. Just thinking about what is best for my team at that specific moment. And if something happens in the game that maybe can put me out of my way, then it’s not good if the setter loses his head. A spiker can do that and I don’t give him the ball and maybe he can cool down, (but) if I lose my head I can compromise the game.”

It is this unshakeable discipline that won Grbic 315 caps for Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia. Along with the Olympic medals, he also won silver at the 1998 FIVB World Championships and gold at the 2001 European Championships. In the European Championships in Germany, Serbia & Montenegro took the fourth place and Nikola Grbic became the best setter of the tournament for the third time in a row after being the best setter in Eindhoven (NED) in 1997 and then in Ostrave (CZE) in 2001.

There is little room for regret after a career such as the one outlined above. Grbic could bow out at the absolute pinnacle of his sport, as captain of his national team, with three of the last handful of international games including an Olympic quarter-final, an FIVB World League gold-medal match and, memorably, the home game in front 9,100 fans at Pionir Hall in Belgrade when Serbia clinched a place in the World League Final Round against France.

It would be a fantastic way to say goodbye for someone whom playing for their country meant so much: “My father gave us that feeling of patriotism and love for the national team and love for my country,” says Grbic.

Who knows? This devotion to his country may see Grbic return one day to coach the national team. That is, of course, after devoting time to his family. And if Grbic is anything like his dear father, he’ll also soon be deciding on the best position for his son on the Volleyball court.

Giba is the best known player in one of the greatest volleyball teams ever, Brazilian men’s volleyball team from this decade. Giba may be the best player in Brazilian superb volleyball team and is a superstar among volleyball fans all over the world.

Giba is not only an excellent professional volleyball player, but also has passion, energy and charisma which make him lovable by the volleyball fans – and the power to inspire the whole Brazilian team to play its best.

The high-strung Giba, an outside hitter, was the team’s leading scorer at the 2007 World Cup, with 127 points (14th overall). An omnipresent figure on the court with his his sweat-soaked hair plastered to his head, he plays with great emotion and flair, and for a big man, has exceptionally quick feet. The MVP of his first international tournament — the 1993 World Youth championships — Giba played in his first World League tournament in 1997, and was a member of the Brazilian team that placed fourth at the 1998 Worlds.

He played his first Olympic Games in Athens 2004. Athens was a special defining moment in Giba’s life; Brazil won the Olympic Gold Medal and during the Olympics Giba’s first daughter, Nicole was born.

Giba has been crowned the Most Valuable Player in 2004 Olympic Games, 2006 World League and 2006 World Championships.

For the 2007-2008 season Giba signed a 3-year contract to play professional volleyball in Russia after playing several club volleyball seasons in Brazil and Italy. He represents Iskra Odintsovo, a club team in small Odintsovo town near Moscow.

At age 11, Giba endured a severe injury to his left arm that required 150 stitches. He recovered and started playing volleyball the next year. He also played soccer and basketball when he was younger, but always liked volleyball best. Giba, who’s married to his wife, Pirv, thinks he will retire after Beijing.

His father Pietro always wanted his son to become a policeman, which was the family tradition and would ensure Luigi a regular income at the end of each month. But Luigi Mastrangelo, or better Gigi (now everyone simply calls him Mastro), had other plans.

He liked playing football near his house in Mottola, a little town of 20,000 citizens South of Italy. Being a very good defender and an enthusiastic supporter of Juventus Turin, everybody called him Brio, who is a strong and tall football player. But Gigi Mastrangelo, who chose shirt number 3 following his idol Antonio Cabrini, was growing day by day and found it increasingly hard to move as agile on the football pitch as his close friend Nicola Legrottaglie, who was born in Gioia del Colle. While Nicola continued dribbling the ball, Gigi made a decision and changed to volleyball.
This decision started off his new life: He left Mottola to go to Matera, a city near home before being sent to Milan to play for a big team! A former national player, Stefano Recine, wanted Gigi to become the captain of Berlusconi’s team and paved the way to a new career. He also went to Mottola with the aim to convince Gigi’s father to let his son go.

Luigi transferred from Milan to Cuneo, then to Sant’Antioco and back again to Cuneo, before the national team called him in. At the 1999 European Championships in Vienna, Andrea Anastasi lined him up during the final match against Russia, leaving the captain Andrea Gardini, three times World Champion, on the bench. This tactical move changed Mastro’s career within less than two hours: he became a star. Everyone wanted him and nobody ever thought about putting him on another position than middle blocker (he used to be a wing spiker for the junior national team). Today he is one of the best middle blockers in the world.

Maybe Mastrangelo’s mind was flying higher than his blocks and much faster than his services at that stage. He fell into a low but fortunately came back again, winning a medal in the Olympic Games in Sidney 2000. “I was very happy even though it was ‘only’ bronze. For me it was the first Olympic medal”, he said later. After his marriage he moved to Macerata and during the World Championships in 2002 his son Samuele was born. Nobody knows whether he will also become a volleyball player yet but he will definitely watch a lot of his dad’s matches in the future, like in the final of the European Championships in Berlin last September where Mastro blocked 11 attacks.

Kvisko was the mascot of a quiz in which, if Kvisko was used and the answer was correct, the competitor would gain double points. Goran has been given this nickname after many matches he would play as a substitute and then become the key player of the match.

He has played for Partizan for six seasons – from 1990/91. to 1995/96. After that, he’s played for Italian clubs Colmark Brescia and Conad Ferrara for a season each. This season (1998/99.) he plays for Olympiakos Athens where he’s coached by Zoran Gajić.

He started to play for Yugoslav national team at the same time when almost all other current Yugoslav national team players did – in qualifications for Euro championship in Athens 1995. At that championship Yugoslavia won bronze medal. Next year, Yugoslavia won bronze medals at Olympics in Atlanta and at World cup in Japan. At European championship in Athens 1997, the same team beat Italy in semi-finals, but couldn’t do anything against host Holland (and the referees), so the silver was achieved.

Finally, at World championship in Japan 1998, Vujević won silver medal with Yugoslavia and was announced world Best Server. He earned this title because of 33 aces in 12 matches, which is 2,75 aces per match in a bit more than 23 serves per match. This means that in 17 serves he had an average of 2 aces! He also received Best Receiver awards at the end of the 2000 World League.

Vujević’s basic position is reciever, but he often takes part in attacks and, when he’s on position 1 – server, opponents always have trouble to recieve his bomb or lob.

Goran is 192 cm tall. He likes listening to music going to the cinema – his favourite actor is Al Pacino, actress – Jodie Foster.

He was a member of the Olympic gold medal Dutch volleyball team. Besides the Olympic gold medal his team also won the European Championship and the World League.

During his eight year stay in Italy he played for Modena and Treviso. His last three years he played in Apeldoorn, Netherlands for Piet Zoomers/D.

He is ex volleyball player who was diagnosed with diabetes during his professional career. He discovered that a lot of people with diabetes are fearful of being too active because of possible hypo’s. Because of his positive experience of managing diabetes and sports, he thought it would be a good idea to share this experience with other people. That’s why he started the Bas van de Goor Foundation.

At the conclusion of his playing career, he joined the technical staff for half a year before dedicating himself to his Foundation.

Association of Serbian National Team Players decided to give the “Fair Play” award for the year 2006 to Vladimir Vanja Grbic.

The decision was made by the Governing Committee of the Association.

In the details of this decision it is cited that Vanja Grbic is the new knight of fair play virtue, who marked Yugoslav, Serbian and world volleyball playing for the national team more than 242 times. Vanja Grbić won the gold medal at the Olympics in 2000, and bronze medal in 1996, silver medal at the World Championship in 1998, and gold (2001), silver (1997), and two bronze medals (1995, 1997) at the European Championships. He was the Best European Player in 2000, and several times the best sportsman of his country. Vanja Grbic is person with high moral standards, man of character, altruist, humanist…

The FIVB, respecting his devotion to the volleyball movement in the widest of all senses, at the Congress held from October 23rd to 25th, 2006, in Tokyo, elected Vanja Grbic in the Commission for the Development of World Volleyball (for the first time in the history an active player gets to be a member of FIVB Commission). Vanja Grbic, from the start of his career, was man who strikes you with his psychophysical strength, volleyball skill, and stability. When most needed, he contributed immensely to the rise of the esteem for Serbian country and Serbian volleyball. Vanja Grbic is truly a loving character in the volleyball world, in the world of sports, and in everyday life. He is the real ambassador of his country, role model for generations of players yet to come.

Miljković is regularly on the top of the best spikers list in the tournaments and has a great jump serve. He is very well built and extremely strong opposite hitter who has variety of different shots; he can swing the ball away with a power or using his good technique.

For an extremely big player Miljković moves surprisingly well. He has a good footwork and is quick from his feet; therefore he is able to generate a good speed for his approach from any distance to the ball.

Scoring machine Miljković is probably the best volleyball player in the world in his position.

He started his professional career in Partizan Belgrade in 1997.

He played in the national team of FR Yugoslavia for the first time a year later (on October 4, 1998 in a game against Turkey). In 2000 in Sydney the Yugoslav national team (members of which were also Vladimir Grbić, Nikola Grbić, Andrija Gerić, Goran Vujević) won the Olympic gold medal. In the final match against Russia Ivan Miljković scored the last point and after that fell on his knees.

After this success he changed his club and started playing for Italian Lube Banca Macerata. In 2001 the Yugoslav team won the European Volleyball Championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic. With his club, Lube Banca Macerata, he also won the Champions League (2001), twice the Italian Cup (2001, 2003) and three times the CEV Cup (2001, 2005, 2006).

On July 18, 2007, he signed a contract with the M. Roma Volley. The following year, on July 5, 2008, Olympiacos, announced that he will be continuing his career in Greece. In 2009 he won the Greek Championship and the Greek Cup.

Both in the club and in the national team he wears a jersey with number 14.