Tallinn, Estonia, June 20, 2019. The anticipation is building as we are steadily approaching the CEV Volleyball European Golden League Final Four for men. As Turkey and Estonia have been residing in Tallinn since Monday, on Thursday Belarus and the Netherlands arrived to complete to competing quartet. With two tickets to the FIVB Challenger Cup at stake and the prize of € 125,000 for the winner, teams cannot wait to find out who will be the top contender in Estonia these coming days. Follow the matches live on our streaming platform EuroVolley.tv.
The Netherlands vs. Belarus
- The Dutch won Pool B of the EGL with four victories in six matches, gaining 10 points along the way. They left Spain, Croatia and Estonia behind them.
- The 'Oranjes' played four five-set matches, from which they won three.
- Belarus also collected four wins in a group with Ukraine, Czech Republic and Finland.
- The Belarussian team qualified by winning two sets against Ukraine in the final round of the group stage.
Viktor Beksha, head coach of Belarus: "We know that the Netherlands are a very good team. They have a lot of good players. We will try to be good in serve, in defence and in attack. We’ll try to play quick, and serve strong. I think their opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz is the most dangerous player. We’ll try to make a good block and have a good defence."
Radzivon Miskevich, opposite for Belarus: "It's the first time we qualified to the Golden European League Finals, so it's already a historic achievement for us. We are very happy to be here, our goal is to play in the final. It will be a fierce battle against the Netherlands. Physically we are very well prepared, our starting six are free of injuries and for sure we will show our best on Friday."
Roberto Piazza, head coach of the Netherlands: "We have to play a good game. They are able to play a good match, they have minimum of three very strong players. One of them is the middle blocker Siarhei Busel, he scored a lot of points on blocks in the Golden League. Another great player is Pavel Kuklinski, he is a very good outside hitter together with Burutay Subasi from Turkey. Two of the best players in this league. Left-handed, we have to take care of the situation. It’s a different game. We are confident now in the court. We have to play like a team."
Nimir Abdel-Aziz, captain of the Netherlands: "We have not seen any video yet, we just arrived. I know one of their players, Radzivon Miskevich, the opposite player, he’s a very good player. But they are in the Final Four for a reason, they came out on top of a challenging pool. We will have to reach our top level and then see if it will be enough. The team is feeling good, the longer we are together, the better we feel as a team. Our form is better than at the start of the competition. Our first goal was reaching the Final Four, our second is advancing to the FIVB Challenger Cup. And for that we have to win on Friday."
Roberto Piazza (NED) and Gheorghe Cretu (EST) meeting before their group stage match
Turkey vs. Estonia
- Turkey are the only team to have remained without a loss in the pool phase. They beat Latvia, Slovakia and Belgium both away and at home.
- Turkey were in the Final Four last year, but didn't make it to the final. They lost to the Czech Republic in three sets. They eventually won bronze by beating Portugal.
- Estonia as hosts were already qualified, they came in last in Pool B, that was won by the Netherlands. They won two matches, both of them in five sets. They beat the Netherlands and Croatia at home in Tartu.
- Last year Estonia won the Golden League by beating the Czech Republic in the final in three sets.
Arslan Ekşi̇, captain of Turkey: "We finished the group stage without a loss, six games and six wins. Here, we are going to play against the host Estonia, and I think it's always an advantage to play at home, but if we keep the quality of our game, it will be a good match. We are expecting a tough battle, but for our team and especially for our young players, it will be a good and important experience. Our goal is to first win the semifinal and then we will see. This year we are a better team, we have a great team spirit, so if we find our rhythm, we will beat Estonia."
Nedim Özbey, head coach of Turkey: "We stayed undefeated in our group, we only lost two sets even if we played against very strong teams. We are here, because we really want to play in the final. We are one of the best teams in this tournament and we want to raise the trophy on Saturday. We knew that either way we will have to play against Estonia, so it doesn't matter for us that we face them already in the semifinal. We practiced what we have to do to beat them, I've studied the Estonian team so hard. In my opinion the game between Turkey and Estonia is like a real final and the winner of this clash will be champions of the tournament."
Arslan Ekşi̇ (TUR, #10, captain) celebrating a point against Belgium in the pool phase.
Kert Toobal, captain of Estonia: "Turkey have come here as an unbeaten team, but in the past, we have also won all matches in the group stage and we lost both matches in the Final Four, so I hope that we will stop their winning streak. We need to focus on our game and we have to improve our level. Turkey is a really good team, so it will be a very tough evening, therefore we have to show our best volleyball. We are struggling with some injuries, so we have to use all players who are able to play as much as possible. This weekend we have big national holidays (Victory Day and St. John's Day) and people usually go out of town for a few days, but I believe that despite this, we will have great support from our fans."
Gheorghe Cretu, head coach of Estonia. "It will be a tough match. Turkey are a fighting team. They showed last year in the Final Four in the Czech Republic that they never give up and they will be fighting for each ball. It’s going to be a game with lots of emotions. They had a good tournament so far but now we are playing in the Final Four where the level of the teams is completely different from the pool phase. Our fans are very close to the team. There is no doubt about the success of volleyball in Estonia. This success is also the result of the incredible fans that will follow the team everywhere, being a huge support to these special guys. We are expecting a full house."
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