Luxembourg, May 19, 2018. After a long wait, the inaugural Golden European League swang into action today with four games in the men's competition taking place to start six legs of exciting matches.  Belgium are one of the higher ranked teams in the competition, and they started with a four-set away win in Sweden.  It was a similar story for Estonia who travelled to Slovakia on this opening weekend and won 3-1.  Neighbours Portugal and Spain played an exciting match in Pool C which ended up going to the home side, while the second match in that pool ended with a staight sets win for Finland over Czech Republic.

Pool A

Sweden vs. Belgium 1-3 (20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 17-25)

•    Sweden's Fredrik Gustavsson was phenomenal, finishing as the top scorer of the game with 19 points.
•    Tomas Rousseaux had a truly great day himself, finishing as the top scorer for the 'Red Dragons' with 16 points.
•    Despite the loss for Sweden, it was a good day for their team.  Wilhelm Nilsson was a machine at the net, scoring a total of six winning blocks throughout the game.
•    Thanks to Belgium’s victory against the home team, the 'Red Dragons' currently hold the number 1 spot in the Pool A standings.

Quotes:

Tomas Rousseaux, player for Team Belgium:  "Sweden apparently had some really good spikers and play well when it comes to services, but all in all I think we were the better team today. The key to this victory was about mistake-management - we played smart and organised."

Fredrik Gustavsson, player for Team Sweden: "There was a lot of things that we didn’t do as well as we were supposed to. Even if it felt like the gap between our teams was not that big today, there were still some important rallies where we had to do better. In addition, we have to be more consistent when it comes to reception and service-pressure.”

Slovakia vs. Estonia 1-3 (22-25, 26-24, 19-25, 17-25)

•    Going in, it was the 10th game between SVK and EST. Slovakia lead 6-3, but Estonia had won the last two matches and won again here.
•    Slovakia turned the score around in the second set, trailing 21-24 before winning 26-24.
•    About 1,200 spectators watched the game in Poprad (SVK).
•    Setter Andres Toobal (EST) and middle-blocker Emanuel Kohut (SVK), were awarded the best players of the match.

Quotes:

Andrej Kravárik, coach of Slovakia: “I think we had too much respect for the opponent. We knew that Estonia is a strong team, but we had to play with more power and courage. We did not push with the service as much as we wanted and we did not use the fact that Oliver Venno started as a receiver today. We have a young team and we need time. I hope that some of these young players will be key players in our national team in years to come.”

Emanuel Kohút, captain of Slovakia: “We lost concentration after the second set. The third and fourth sets were not good from our side. We made too many errors, but we have a young team and that is normal. I think that our team has potential, but we need time. I hope that we will beat Sweden on Wednesday here in Poprad even though it will be a difficult match.”

Andres Toobal, captain of Estonia: “We played very confidently today, and I was a little bit surprised too, because we did not play any friendly matches before the CEV European League. For the first time we played with two opposites on the court, and we still had very good reception. We are very happy about this victory.”

Gheorghe Cretu, coach of team Estonia: “This was our first match this season, since we did not play any match in the preparation, so I am satisfied with the result. We have been practicing many situations and to be honest, I am surprised that after such a short time we are able to play this way - for example with two opposites in the game. We had better attack, better block and even though we lost the second set, I saw lot of positives in our performance.”

Pool C

Portugal vs. Spain 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22)

•    Portugal were unstoppable in the first set, playing truly as a team. To be highlighted is the debut of Caique Silva with the national team and the domain on the net of their captain Alexandre Ferreira, allowing Portugal to advance to an 18-14 lead and close it at 25-18 with a failed service from Spain.
•    In the second set Portugal maintained the pressure with aggressive serves and spikes and were rewarded with a five-point advantage at 16-11. Fernando Munoz’s team reacted and reduced the gap to two points, but an attack from Alex Ferreira for 22-18 left little doubts as to who would win the set. Marco Ferreira closed it with a powerful spike for 25-20.
•    Spain changed their game in the third set, supported by Jorge Fernandez’s and Andres Villena’s attacks, and took control of the scoreboard. Altough Portugal tried to change the course of the set, the Spanish serves continued to open breaches in Portugal’s defence on the way to a 25-22 win.
•    In the final set, Spain continued to show confidence but Portugal were able to take the lead and gain a precious advantage. Leading by 21-17, Portugal saw Spain approaching rapidly, with two strong blocks, but secured their game and with an attack from Alex Ferreira closed the set at 25-22.
•    Marco Ferreira and Alexandre Ferreira, with 21 and 20 points, respectively, where the best scorers of the match, while Jorge Fernandez was the best for Spain with 13 points.

Quotes:

Hugo Silva, coach of Portugal: “It was difficult as expected and only with the enormous respect that we have for Spain were we able to play those first two sets. Our team played with joy and it is good to see some new faces showing their value, since these players have an enormous will to bring success to our country.”

Caique Silva, player of Portugal: “It was a spectacular moment. It couldn’t be a better debut for me and I owe this to this true family that our team is, welcoming me with open arms. We have been training hard and made two good sets. Afterwards we broke and lost a set, but we didn’t let that affect us and knew how to win the match. Now we will rest and afterwards try to add a new win in Spain this Wednesday.”

Fernando Munoz, coach of Spain: “We knew that it would be difficult since it was our first match. Like Portugal, we didn’t play any friendly matches. Portugal played well and in our play we felt a little the youth of this team and the fact that three of our players made their debuts today. We will try to play better in Guadalajara. We need more practice and match time with all the team.”

Finland vs. Czech Republic 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 27-25)

•    Finland played very well in the first two sets while Czech Republic made a lot of mistakes. The third set was very tight, but in the last actions Czech Team made two errors, which ended the match.
•    Finnish opposite spiker Samuli Kaislasalo scored 21 points and was the top scorer of the match.
•    The Finnish team hit seven ace serves, the Czechs only two.
•    2,043 spectators were following the match, making it a sold out game and Saimaa Stadiumi was full of happy Finnish fans.

Quotes:

Tuomas Sammelvuo, coach of Finland: “In the first set we made mistakes, but they made even more errors. The second set was very good for us. I am happy for the last balls in the third set, because it was very important to win the third set. Overall I am very happy about this match. There are still two or three main points we have to improve. It is great to get this kind of experience for the players and the spectators.”

Michal Nekola, coach of Czech Republic: “We made a lot of easy mistakes in the two first sets. The third set was better, but at the end of it we again made two easy mistakes. Finland had better defence than us. We didn’t serve well enough in the first two sets and it was easy for the Finnish setter to play fast attacks. We are looking for our next match in Prague and we will be better.”

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