03/01/2014 21:39
Germany and Turkey overpower their opponents in Pool K
2014 FIVB Volleyball World Championship - Men
Ludwigsburg, Germany, January 3, 2014. Germany started out strong in their quest for making the Final Round of the 2014 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship as they beat Croatia in straight sets (25-20, 25-13, and 25-21) at the MHP-Arena in Ludwigsburg on Friday afternoon. With 2,600 fans in attendance the players mentored by Belgian-born head coach Vital Heynen dominated the game from the start up to the end with their superstar Georg Grozer scoring 18 points while Croatia’s standout Igor Omrcen responded with 12. Later in the evening Turkey routed Estonia in straight sets too (25-19, 25-15, and 26-24) with Metin Toy and Emre Batur scoring 18 and 14 points respectively in their winning effort. Oliver Venno was Estonia’s most prolific player with 11.
Germany captain Jochen Schöps commented after the game with Croatia: “It was great to play in front of such a crowd. Our fans pushed us to this victory. We did a very good job and worked well in block and defense in the first two sets. At the beginning of the third set we lost our concentration, but in the end it was a good performance.”
Germany head coach Vital Heynen: “Today many things helped us – for example the crowd. We started a little bit nervous in the first set and felt too comfortable in the third heat. The next two days will be very tough, so I am happy with this start.”
Croatia captain Igor Omrcen: “It was a great pleasure playing in front of this audience today. I think some of our young players cannot deal with this atmosphere and they got under pressure. Too bad that we lost the first two sets so easy.”
Croatia head coach Igor Simuncic: “Congratulations to Germany. They played a very good game. On the other side, I am a little bit disappointed. Tactically we were almost perfectly prepared, but we could not turn our plans into reality. We will try to find our chance the next two days.”
Turkey captain Ulas Kiyak said after the game with Estonia: “We are happy that we started with this result in this tournament and will try our best in the next two days. The first game is always the hardest, now we have to concentrate on tomorrow.”
Turkey head coach Emanuele Zanini: “Good start, because it is never easy. To win 3:0 was very important for us especially after we came back in the third set from 23:24. However, we think day by day and match by match. Germany is the favorite and can compete with the best teams in Europe.”
Estonia captain Kert Toobal: “Turkey was the better team. We started to play in the third set, but it was too late. Not the best way to start a tournament and we have to try to perform better tomorrow.”
Estonia head coach Avo Keel: “There are only three games and it was not enough today. Our tactic was to stop the Turkish wing spikers. If you look at the stats our reception and defense was good. The big difference was in attack. Turkey was too god, we couldn’t defend their attacks.”
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the matches
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