Prague, Czech Republic, September 10, 2011. 2009 European champion Poland lived up to the expectations of being the favorite in Pool D by claiming its first match this afternoon in Prague. There were so many fans from Poland crowding the stands of the splendid O2 Arena – always loudly cheering for the guys in red and white – that Piotr Gruszka & Co. probably felt like being at home.
Germany could not find a way to stop Poland’s attackers in the first couple of sets while their spikers were not that effective. Poland played better in all fundamentals but slowed down the pace in set 3. This opportunity was immediately used by the German guys before Poland got back full control of the game in set 4 to finish it off pretty quickly.
“The opening game is always extremely important” said the Italian-born head coach of Poland, Andrea Anastasi. “We fought well against a strong team”.
“We did not play at the level we are capable of” said a disappointed Raul Lozano for Germany. “The guys from Poland had better tactics and exploited our mistakes”.