Luxembourg, August 17, 2018. The #EuroVolleyM Qualification round will resume with Leg 2 played over the weekend, when Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Croatia, Latvia, Albania, Switzerland and Montenegro will seek to use their home advantage to seize their first victories after not as succcesful away matches.

Pool A

Denmark vs. Finland

•    Denmark and Finland faced each other in the last European Championship Qualification round in 2015, when Finland won 3-1 at home and 3-0 in Denmark.
•    Last time the venue Sportscenter Ikast hosted an international Volleyball match was in 2014 when Denmark played Austria in the CEV European League.
•    The captain of Denmark, Axel Jacobsen, is half Danish, half Argentinean, but he eventually chose to represent Denmark, the birthplace of his father.

Team Denmark celebrating a point on Wednesday in Romania, the team now have their eyes on a home victory

Mikael Trolle, head coach of Team Denmark: "It was only the margins that denied us all three points against Romania. With the necessary luck, I think we would have taken the three points, as we had hoped for. Finland are always good, when you face them in a qualification match, and we have great respect for them. The Finns are still favourites in the group, but I won’t call us without a chance. We always go on the court to win the match.”

Tuomas Sammelvuo, head coach of Team Finland: “I expect us to be as ready as possible. Our philosophy is to have the feeling inside us as individuals and as a team that we deserve to play to win. The game is always a story in itself. The key is to prepare, prepare, prepare and be ready for what will happen. Denmark are very good especially at home. I expect a very hard and good game."

Pool B

Latvia vs. Estonia

•    The matchup and ‘derby’ between Latvia and Estonia takes place at Arena Riga, the largest sports arena in the country, with 5,000+ fans in attendance.
•    The venue usually hosts ice hockey matches, but this time around it will be playing host to a much-anticipated Volleyball match.
•    The Latvian ‘Wolves’ are the bronze medal winners from this year’s Silver European League. Estonia, on the other hand, are the winners of this year’s Golden European League.   
•    The coach of the Latvian team, Avo Keel, is Estonian and this adds further intrigue to the match.


Team Latvia will try to make amends for their heavy loss to Israel when hosting their neighbours from Estonia

Avo Keel, head coach of Latvia: “After our participation in the Silver European League our team became stronger and I am sure that with these players we can achieve good results.”

Pool C

Montenegro vs. Slovakia

Coming soon...

Iceland vs. Republic of Moldova

Coming soon...

Pool D

Croatia vs. Portugal

Coming soon...

Albania vs. Austria

Coming soon...

Pool E

Belarus vs. Spain

The Belarusian team have been training really hard in Mogilev following their 3-1 win over Norway on Wednesday.  Spain showed against Georgia that they are really strong and well prepared so the home side expect a tight match but will try to do everything possible to win and to show a clever and beautiful game.

Norway vs. Georgia

•   The home games for the men's and women's National teams will be the first international volleyball event in Kongstenhallen, Fredrikstad n the 21st century.
•   The Norwegian men’s team is severely reduced in force due to the knee injury of the attack leader Andreas Takvam, German Champion this season.
•   2018 NCAA Champion Bjarne Nikolai Huus attempts to strengthen the Norwegian men’s team as outside hitter.
•   The new head coach of Team Norway used to work with Finland's National team.

Tore Aleksandersen, head coach of Team Norway: "The difference between the team winning and losing in Belarus was their ability to make the right decisions and perform at the best level when the set or match was on the line. This can only come from experience gathered through many matches at this level."

Pool F

Former Y.R. of Macedonia vs. Ukraine

•   Ukraine started the qualifications with a convincing home victory over Switzerland (25-16, 25-16, 25-20), making it clear that the first place in this group F is their only concern.
•   F.Y.R. of Macedonia managed to win a five-set thriller (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 16-14) in Budapest, against Hungary, making a step forward towards their goal: securing their spot in a European or World championship for the first time.
•   The team captain of F.Y.R. of Macedonia Nikola Gjorgiev delivered a fantastic performance in Leg 1, against Hungary, scoring 42 points, more than double than any other player on the court; he will seek to continue the hot streak at home as well.
•   F.Y.R. of Macedonia and Ukraine had a recent encounter on a big stage. In July 2017 they played in the final of the CEV European League, and Ukraine took the victory with 3-1 (25-15, 25-22, 24-26, 25-13). In their only previous clash, the F.Y.R. of Macedonia won 3-0 (29-27, 25-23, 25-14), in a World championship qualifying match, back in May 2013.

Macedonians celebrated their first victory in Leg 1 and will look to keep the slate clean

Nikola Gjorgiev, team captain of F.Y.R. of Macedonia: "I expect a difficult match and of course, battle for the first place in our pool. We are maybe a little bit more tired than our opponent, but I never doubt in our courage and our hearts. We will fight hard and I hope for a second victory, and first place in our group after two legs of the qualifiers."

Mykhaylo Melnyk, President of the Ukrainian Volleyball Federation: "Ukraine hasn't played at the European Championship since 2005, so it is very important for us to win the pool and qualify to the final round. We have a good team, and we play well, so we expect a good result. But we know that the Macedonians also have a good team, led by Nikola Gjorgiev who is an excellent player so it’s not going to be easy. We know the team of Macedonia, because we played against them in the final of the European League and we won. We will see how it is going to be this time."

Switzerland vs. Hungary

•   19 August, 2018 in Schönenwerd will definitively be a highlight. For the first time in the history of Swiss volleyball, both the women’s and the men’s national teams will play a home match in a qualification round for a European Championship on the same day and in the same venue.
•   The venue BetoncoupeArena is perfect as it was specifically built for Volleyball. Inaugurated in January 2018, the centre now serves as training base for the Swiss Volley national teams. The 2018 CEV Volleyball Silver European League match between Switzerland and Sweden back in June kicked‐off many competitions of the Swiss national teams to be held in the BetoncoupeArena.
•   At first sight, Switzerland appear to be the outsiders in such a strong group as Pool F of the 2019 CEV Volleyball European Championship qualifiers. Thanks to the meticulous preparation by the coaching staff, as well as the home court advantage in the witch's cauldron of the BetoncoupeArena in Schönenwerd, the young Swiss team might be able to cause a surprise.
•   On Wednesday, August 15, libero Julian Fischer made his debut in the men’s elite national team. Sunday will be the first home match for him. Julian plays for Volley Schönenwerd, the club based in the BetoncoupeArena – thus, it will be a home match in every sense of the word for the young Swiss player.

Samuel Ehrat, captain of Team Switzerland: “The new venue “BetoncoupeArena” was one of the reasons which made me choose Volley Schönenwerd for the upcoming season of the National championship. During the summer, we used this great infrastructure with the men’s national team to prepare for the 2019 CEV Volleyball European Championship qualifiers. Now, we are very much looking forward to finally playing a match for an official competition at home, the first one after six long years. Schönenwerd is known for exciting volleyball events. We hope to receive the support of numerous and loud Swiss supporters for our matches with the national team as well.”

Mario Motta, head coach of Team Switzerland: “On Wednesday, we did not play a good match against the Ukraine and we are aware of it. Now the whole team wants to demonstrate that we can play better ─ not only to the audience but first and foremost to ourselves! We will fight much more to try to win the match against Hungary and we hope that playing at home will help us reach that goal.”

Pool G

Sweden vs. Greece

•    After Wednesday's opening matches, Greece currently sit atop the standings in Pool G, with Sweden chasing in third place, two points behind.
•    36-year-old opposite Marcus Nilsson, who has been a volleyball superstar for over a decade, has officially declared that this year's qualification process is his last chance to reach a European Championship Final Round with the Swedish national team.
•    Last time the two sides squared off was in Turkey in September 2016 in a friendly match which acted as a build up to the #EuroVolley qualifiers taking place that same autumn. Greece lost the first set 16-25, but then went on to take home the "W" via three straight set wins (25-22, 25-23, 25-16).

Per-Anders Sääf, assistant coach of Team Sweden: "Greece are even better than Azerbaijan, and from what I have seen they play incredibly well together as a team. They are going to be a hard nut to crack, for sure, but maybe it suits us better to be the underdog? We can beat them, there is no doubt about that. And with our home crowd behind us we will do our best to succeed with our mission."

Luxembourg vs. Azerbaijan

•    After a long preparation phase that started in May in Luxembourg, followed by two training camps, one in Switzerland and the other one in Slovenia with many sparring partners, the Red Lions from Luxembourg are ready for their biggest challenge ever. The team around captain Gilles Braas, who returns to Luxembourg after spending the last season with SWD Powervolleys DÜREN in the Bundesliga, are impatient to play at d’Coque this coming Saturday after the close game against Greece on Wednesday.
•    With the team from Azerbaijan, Luxembourg meet a former opponent of the traditional Novotel Cup annually held in Luxembourg City. On New Year’s Eve 2016, the Red Lions edged Azerbaijan 3-2 to win the tournament.
•    As some players like Ralf Lentz, Dominik Husi, Arnaud Maroldt and Juan Pablo Stutz have retired from the national team at the end of last season, there is certainly a lack of experienced players in training, but the younger ones have brought in enthusiasm and a renewed dynamism.
•    The aim of Luxembourg’s team is to qualify for the #EuroVolley Final Round. Even if it does not seem very realistic, it is nevertheless possible. The goal was set and everyone is working towards its achievement. Kamil Rychlicki, the only professional player in the team, spent the last two seasons in Belgium with Noliko MAASEIK and will soon move to Italy for another challenge – he will play there for Bunge RAVENNA, the CEV Challenge Cup titleholders. He is an important pillar for his teammates: he has developed into a strong personality, he works exemplarily, he takes the leader position and he is an example for the other members of the team. Although he gives the team a lot of quality, he cannot win the game alone. The other players must also perform at their best level, and if they do so, Rychlicki can help cause a sensation.


The Red Lions of Luxembourg are hoping to cause a sensation in the #EuroVolleyM qualifiers

“We can reach out for a miracle,” head coach Dieter Scholl said.

The Red Lions are no longer the team the opponents have to deal with to get easily their qualification points but from now on, rather an opponent that they have to beat first. Ralf Lentz, former national player and now Team Manager: “With the increase to 24 teams, our chances of participating for the first time in a European Championship are real. Even if Greece is probably the favourite team for the first place in the pool, we can hope to finish among the five best runners-up across the seven groups to qualify.”

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