09/10/2015 22:40
Dream start for Bulgarian Lions, Oranjes open EuroVolley journey with 3:1 win over Czech Republic
2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men
Sofia, Bulgaria, October 9, 2015. Though they dropped one set along the way, The Netherlands were off to a convincing start of their 2015 men’s EuroVolley journey. The Oranjes opened the programme of the competition at the imposing and iconic Arena Armeec in Bulgaria’s capital recording a 3:1 victory (25-21, 25-17, 20-25, 25-18) in their match with the Czech Republic. Later in the evening, a sell-out crowd witnessed the memorable debut of Bulgaria’s Lions who routed Germany in three sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-20) in a remake of the gold medal match from the Baku 2015 European Games which this time ended in a completely different way, with Bulgaria making amends for the loss they had suffered in late June in Azerbaijan’s capital.
Czech Republic vs. The Netherlands 1:3 (21-25, 17-25, 25-20, 18-25)
The first set was quite competitive until, just before the second technical time-out, the Dutch started to pile up an advantage with three consecutive points (16:13). The Czechs were not able to recover and The Netherlands closed it off with a block-out by Kay van Dijk for 25-21. The Netherlands stepped up their blocking efforts in the second set to open an even wider gap and win it by 25-17. With five points in a row, the Czech Republic turned the score around from 5:7 to 10:7 and never looked back through the rest of the third set. The Dutch lost some of their concentration and made far too many errors to let their opponents cruise on to a 25-20 win. Not taking any more chances at losing precious points, the players of coach Gido Vermeulen regained focus in the fourth set, established domination and closed it all off with a beautiful double block for the final 25-18.
One Finger does not make a fist – this might be the lesson the Czechs learned from this game. Their opposite Michal Finger was the best scorer of the match with 21 points, while the team effort on the winning side was expressed in a widely spread out scoring distribution, topped by Dick Kooy with 16 points.
Zdenek Smejkal, head coach of the Czech Republic, was not happy with some decisions made by the referees: “There was one big mistake in the fourth set, which put us out of the game. I am really disappointed with the loss - it is bad for us. Now only a win against Bulgaria would let us stay on at the finals.”
Ales Holubec, captain of the Czech Republic: “The referees made a very important mistake at 6-6 in the fourth set. They whistled in favour of our opponent, although the rally was obviously ours. We had just been able to catch up and we were on the rise when this point proved to be decisive for our loss.”
Gido Vermeulen, head coach of The Netherlands: “I am happy and satisfied, because this game was a final for us. Germany and Bulgaria are the best teams in this pool and we needed this win in order not to be out after the first game. We really wanted this win. Now the championship is open for us. Now we can play against Germany with an open mind. I cannot say yet that we are ready to surprise the two favourites, but we will see.”
Yannick van Harskamp, captain of The Netherlands: “We played very well in the beginning. The first two sets were just perfect for us. In the third one it was difficult, but in the fourth we came back again to our level – we have shown to everybody and to ourselves that we can fight. It was an important win. It is a really nice championship. We have no big goals at the EuroVolley 2015. Our goal actually is to go to the next round.”
Bulgaria vs. Germany 3:0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-20)
It could not have been a more inspiring atmosphere, created by the fans at the completely sold-out Arena Armeec, and the home heroes quickly shot up to an early 8:2 lead. The Bulgarian team managed to stay ahead thanks to its better spiking and serving, but in the end it was a kill block by Viktor Yosifov that closed it off at 25-20.
The second set offered a very similar story. This time the Lions’ early lead was even more impressive – 10:2, and then it was again a matter of keeping up their efficiency in offence, supported by the almost perfect reception, especially by Nikolay Penchev. The Bulgarian blockers were also shining and contributed as many as six points to the eventual 25-17.
Set 3 started level as the Germans were now attacking as much as they could. But it was competitive only through the first technical time-out. After that Plamen Konstantinov’s players took control again and cruised on to finish off this straight-setter with a 25-20 final score.
Bulgaria’s charismatic captain Vladimir Nikolov was the best scorer of the game with 14 points. His teammate Todor Aleksiev added 11. Marcus Böhme was Germany’s most prolific player with eight points.
Vladimir Nikolov, captain of Bulgaria: “It has been a dream of mine for twenty years to earn a big victory like this in front of an audience like this at a hall like this. Today my dream came true. We played a very strong match and we played it well tactically, but this is only the first step, since we have two more games to play in this pool. It is important that we keep up this level on to tomorrow’s game against the Czech Republic.”
Plamen Konstantinov, head coach of Bulgaria: “We played a very strong game, but I cannot celebrate now, because I know our mentality. And we can make some wrong steps against the Czech Republic and The Netherlands. If we play with the same motivation like in the first game I have no worries. About the game against Germany – we beat them tactically. The boys applied strictly our tactics and did not give the Germans any chances.”
Vital Heynen, head coach of Germany: “Bulgaria surprised me! They did not let us in the game. We are usually able to come back, but this time we could not do this at any moment in the game. We were always behind. We cannot win this way. But Bulgaria was really strong. They did not give us a chance. We came here to play a long tournament and we will see what we can do in the future. Bulgaria made a nice step forward.”
György Grozer, player of Germany: “It is hard to explain this game. Bulgaria played a very good game, but our play was a real disaster. Everybody was completely blocked. What we played was not Volleyball. The Bulgarians played well, but we were not present on the court. We are going back to the hotel – we will try to eat, try to sleep and regain some strength for the game against The Netherlands.”
For more information on the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men visit eurovolley2015.net or click here. In social media, please use the competition’s official hashtag #EuroVolleyM.
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