A few of the big men’s teams have announced their Olympic rosters.

ITALY

SETTERS - Valerio Vermiglio, Marco Meoni OPPOSITES - Alessandro Fei, Mauro Gavotto MIDDLE BLOCKERS - Luigi Mastrangelo, Emanuele Birarelli, Vigor Bovolenta PASSER HITTERS - Matteo Martini, Hristo Zlatanov, Alessandro Paparoni, Alberto Cisolla LIBERO - Mirko Corsano COACH - Andrea Anastasi

This is a really experienced team with Vermiglio, Meoni, Bovolenta, Zlatanov and Corsano returning to the team after long absences to answer Anastasi’s call.  Meoni and Bovolenta are veterans of the famous 1996 team while Martini is the new star of the team, controversially taking Cisolla’s starting position for the Olympic qualification tournament and World League.  Cisolla has announced his retirement from the national team after the tournament and already has his eye on a beach volleyball place in London.

POLAND

SETTERS - Zagumny, Woicki OPPOSITES - Wlazly, Gruszka MIDDLE BLOCKERS - Plinski, Kadziewicz, Mozdzonek PASSER HITTERS - Swiderski, Winiarski, Wika, Gierczynski LIBERO - Ignaczak COACH - Raul Lozano

The World Championships silver medallists have made some changes in the last two years but the starters should be the same.  At their best they can beat anyone but can also lose inexplicably as witnessed by their loss against Estonia after leading 2-0 in the decisive match of a European Championships qualifier in April.  Zagumny will be one of the best setters in the tournament but the form (and mood) of opposite Wlazly will likely determine how far they go.

BULGARIA

SETTERS - Zhekov, Tassev OPPOSITES - Nikolov, Yordanov  PASSER HITTERS - Kaziyski, Kostantinov, Aleksiev, Stoykov  MIDDLE BLOCKERS - E.Ivanov, Tzvetanov, Gaydarski  LIBERO - Salparov COACH - Martin Stoev

The World Championships and World Cup bronze medallists are one of the teams to watch for a medal.  Kaziyski and Nikolov have just finished great seasons in Italy, having won the title with Trento.  Kaziyski was named MVP of the finals and is considered to be one of the very best players in the world right now.  He will be the key to the final position of the team although Nikolov, Kostantinov, Ivanov and Tzvetanov are hugely experienced and won’t be put off by the big stage.

USA

SETTERS - Lloy Ball, Kevin Hansen OPPOSITES - Clay Stanley, Gabe Gardner  MIDDLE BLOCKERS - Tom Hoff,  David Lee, Ryan Millar PASSER HITTERS - Reid Priddy, Sean Rooney, Riley Salmon, Scott Touzinsky LIBERO - Rich Lambourne  COACH - Hugh McCutcheon

After finishing 4th at the World Cup and qualifying easily through the NORCECA zone, the Americans will be confident of the their chances for a medal.  Lloy Ball will be lining up for his 4th Olympics and is in good form after leading his Russian club Kazan to the European Champions League title.  Stanley is one of the most fearsome servers in the world but the player to watch might be Rooney who has emerged in the last 12 months as one the biggest American talents of the last 10 years.