Luxembourg, May 24, 2019. It is finally time to start the international season for 12 teams set to compete in the 2019 edition of the CEV Volleyball European Golden League Women. They all start their journey in a pool phase where they contest three matches at home and another three away, hoping to join hosts Croatia for the Final Four due to take place in Varaždin on June 21-22, 2019. The winners and runners-up of the European Golden League will progress to the FIVB Challenger Cup scheduled for late June where a coveted spot will be at stake to join the 2020 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League. Fans from across the globe can follow all matches through the CEV’s very own OTT platform EuroVolleyTV.

Pool A

Sweden vs. Czech Republic

•    The two teams faced each other last time in January of this year in a EuroVolley qualifier. While Sweden surprisingly won the previous matchup 3-2 back in August 2018, the Swedish team lost on home soil in straight sets a few months later.
•    Those two previous matches between the teams were the first and last game of the EuroVolley 2019 qualifiers. Once again, these two teams will start and end with games against each other in this year’s European Golden League. Sweden is hoping for the win again, as they did last summer.
•    Swedish superstar Isabelle Haak, who recently signed for VakifBank ISTANBUL, is missing in Saturday’s game due to a previous injury.
•    This will be the first game for both teams’ head coaches. Sweden’s new head coach, Ettore Guidetti, cousin of VakifBank’s head coach Giovanni Guidetti, previously coached in Italy’s A1 and A2 leagues as well as the Italian women’s junior national team. Ioannis Athanasopoulos of Czech Republic is the head coach of Germany’s newly crowned national champions, Allianz MTV STUTTGART.

Ioannis Athanasopoulos, head coach of Czech Republic: “The team has been working together for three weeks and we have tried to learn a new system. It will be our first game together and I want to see the team fighting for every ball. Of course, our goal is to win the game. We have some players with minor injuries who are missing. It will be a good opportunity for the team at hand to gain experience and show what they can do on the court. We do not know much yet of Sweden and who will be playing for them tomorrow. They usually try to play fast and they have extremely good defence as well. We have to push a lot on the serve line to make them play slower.”

Jonna Wasserfaller, middle blocker of Sweden: “First of all, it is very exciting that we are finally here and we will be playing our first game. We look forward to that a lot. It is going to be tough, we know that but we also know that we have won against them before so we should definitely be able to do that again. We need to follow our game plan to the fullest in order to win and just focus on our side and take care of the balls that we get. With a new coach on our side, it is still a lot of new things to take in so we need to be patient with that and just follow through properly. We know some of the players that played against us before but at the same time, we do not know what type of game they will play, so we will just have to do our part and focus on us.”

Ukraine vs. Slovakia

Coming soon…



Pool B

Austria vs. Croatia

•    It is a historic match for the women’s national team of Austria who make their debut in the European Golden League on Sunday against Croatia in Innsbruck. The hosts expect many fans to come to the Olympiahalle.
•    Austria, runners-up of the 2018 Silver League, and the three-time EuroVolley silver medal winners and number 11 in the current CEV ranking know each other very well.
•    The two teams faced each other last time in the EuroVolley 2019 qualifiers. Croatia claimed a quite compelling victory in straight sets on home soil in August 2018. Just a few days later, the young Austrian team lost in Zwettl in four hard-fought sets.
•    Coach Svetlana Ilic’s squad started their preparations more than three weeks ago in Maribor and played friendly matches with Australia and Israel.
•    Croatia will host the women’s Final Four on June 21-22 in Varaždin.

Svetlana Ilic, head coach of Team Austria: “In my three years with the team we have made huge steps forward. I believe that we are going to have interesting matches against Croatia, France and CEV EuroVolley 2019 Women co-hosts Hungary. Croatia is a very tough opponent and traditionally a major force in women’s Volleyball. We will do everything to show a good game to our supporters.”

Hungary vs. France

•    Hungary, co-hosts of CEV EuroVolley 2019 Women and France know each other very well after meeting five times in the last five years – with three wins for Hungary and two for France.    
•    Jan De Brandt’s team beat the visitors two times in the last edition of the competition en route to the 2018 CEV European Golden League Finals they hosted in Budapest.
•    The match will be taking place in Nyíregyháza, the birthplace of two Hungarian players, Gréta Szakmáry and Fruzsina Tóth. Both of them are extremely excited before playing in front of several local supporters.
•    Jan De Brandt and Emile Rousseaux, the Belgian-born coaches of the two teams, are great friends off the court as well.

Gréta Szakmáry, player of Team Hungary: “Our goal is to qualify for the Finals, but this competition is also great for us to prepare for the CEV EuroVolley 2019 Women where we want to show our top form. It means a lot to me that I will play in my home town, so I hope that we will start this campaign with a comfortable win.”

Pool C

Finland vs. Spain

•    Saara Esko (nee Loikkanen) will make her comeback to the Finnish national team after a break of nine years. Last time she played for Finland was back in 2010 when outside hitter Suvi Kokkonen was just 10 years old.
•    Finland and Spain have played each other six times since the dawn of the XXI century, with Spain boasting five wins.
•    Last year, Finland finished first in their European League pool and fourth at the Finals in Budapest, while Spain had to be content with 10th place.

Tapio Kangasniemi, head coach of Team Finland: “We have a very positive problem that many players are playing successfully abroad. That is why we did not have much time for pre-season camps.”

Piia Korhonen, opposite hitter of Team Finland: “After the ankle injury I am now in good physical shape but ball control needs more practices and matches. The European Golden League is a perfect preparation for this year’s European Championship.”

Belarus vs. Azerbaijan