Türkiye’s coach Santarelli loses again to wife De Gennaro’s Italy

In the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Türkiye’s volleyball team, the Sultan of the Net, was defeated 3-0 by Italy in the semifinals.

With this result, Italy advanced to the final, and Sultan of the Net earned the right to compete against Brazil for the bronze medal on Aug. 10, Saturday.

Türkiye’s head coach, Daniele Santarelli, faced off against his wife, Monica De Gennaro, a key player for the Italian team. The couple has a history of competing against each other in various international tournaments.

In the 2021 European Championship, Italy, De Gennaro defeated Santarelli’s Croatia 3-0.

In the 2023 Nations League, however, the Sultan of the Net achieved a significant victory by defeating Italy 3-0 in the quarterfinals.

Nonetheless, in the Nations League match on May 18, 2023, Italy defeated Türkiye 3-1.

In the Paris 2024 Olympics, the teams met again. Italy first defeated Türkiye 3-0 in the third and final match of Group C, and then faced them again in the semifinals, winning 3-0 to advance to the final.

Thus, Santarelli lost four out of five matches played against his wife, De Gennaro.

The rivalry between Santarelli and De Gennaro is closely followed by volleyball fans. Türkiye’s performance in the crucial match against Brazil for the bronze medal is eagerly awaited.

Who is Daniele Santarelli?

Santarelli, born on June 8, 1981, in Foligno, Italy, is a volleyball coach. He began his volleyball career playing as a libero in Italy’s second-division (Serie B) teams, including Foligno, Vicenza, Legnago, and Terracina. He started his coaching career in Italy with teams such as Snoopy Pesaro, Urbino Volley, and Robursport Pesaro.

Santarelli began coaching Imoco Volley in Italy’s Serie A1 league in 2014, achieving great success. He won four Serie A1 championships (2015, 2018, 2019, 2021), three Italian Cups (2017, 2020, 2021), and four Italian Super Cups (2017, 2020, 2021) with Imoco Volley. Additionally, he won the World Club Championship with Imoco Volley in 2019.

In the summer of 2018, Santarelli took over as head coach of the Croatian women’s national volleyball team and held this position until the 2021 European Championship. He won two silver medals in the European League with Croatia.

In 2022, he became the head coach of the Serbian women’s national volleyball team. With Serbia, he won a bronze medal in the FIVB Nations League and the World Women’s Volleyball Championship held in Poland and the Netherlands.

In early 2023, Santarelli was appointed as the head coach of the Türkiye’s National Women’s Volleyball Team.

Under his leadership, Türkiye won a gold medal in the 2023 Nations League and another gold medal at the European Women’s Volleyball Championship held in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 3, 2023.