Lausanne, Switzerland, June 9, 2018 - Italy are after their 500th win at a world level competition when they come up against Japan Sunday in Osaka at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League. The hosts have won seven of their 33 encounters with the Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallists.
Head-to-Head
• Japan have won only seven of their 33 encounters with Italy in world level major competitions.
• World level major competitions are: the VNL, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
• Italy have won each of their last seven world level major matches against Japan, including four in straight sets.
• The last time Japan won against Italy in a world level major match came at the 2007 World League, when they won 3-2.
• Japan's last five wins against Italy in world level major competitions all came in five sets. The last time Italy failed to win at least two sets against Japan came at the 1981 World Cup: 3-0.
Japan
• Japan lost 3-0 against Poland on Saturday and have now lost five matches at the VNL versus three victories.
• Japan have lost their last seven matches on home soil in world level major competitions, including their last five in Osaka, since their 3-0 victory against Korea in the 2017 World League in Takasaki. The last time they lost at least eight in a row at home was between 2013 and 2014, when they lost 12 in a row.
• The last time Japan won in Osaka was at the 2016 World League, when they defeated Korea 3-0.
• Despite their defeat, Yuji Nishida scored a match-high 14 spikes against Poland on Saturday. Nishida is Japan's overall top scorer in the Nations League on 114 points.
Italy
• Italy started the 2018 VNL with three victories, but have now lost three of their last five matches.
• Italy's next victory will be their 500th in world level major competitions. Only Brazil and Russia (including the Soviet Union and CIS) have already won 500 matches in world level major competitions.
• Filippo Lanza scored a match-high 20 points against Bulgaria, including 19 from spikes.
• Ivan Zaytsev is still Italy's top scorer in the 2018 VNL on 121 points, but he has been left out of the Italian squad for their trip to Japan.
• Osmany Juantorena has scored second-most points for Italy this VNL season (83 points), but is also left out of the Italian squad for their trip to Japan.
• Luigi Randazzo has scored 52 points, third most of all Italian players, and most among the players in the squad in Japan.