06/03/2015 10:09
German European Cup heroes keep fingers crossed for BERLIN Recycling Volleys
2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Berlin, Germany, March 6, 2015. Is four the magic number? So far there have been three German teams who have been able to win a European Cup competition. Once the Final Four tournament of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men comes to Berlin on March 28-29, the hosts of BERLIN Recycling Volleys want to accomplish the same feat and turn into Germany’s fourth team to sit on the throne of European Volleyball.
Germany’s success story in the European Cups started in 1964 when the SC LEIPZIG reached the finals of the Champions Cup and unexpectedly claimed the first international title for a German team. “We didn’t think that we could take the victory”, former player Siegfried Schneider says adding: “However, as the competition progressed we realised that we were able to be one of the best teams.” Taking the victory was a crowning moment that was not expected by fans, officials or players.
The head coach of the winning team, Herbert Jenter, celebrated the 3-1 victory against Yugoslavia’s Mladost ZAGREB together with about 3’000 fans at the Ernst-Grube-Halle in Leipzig, where additional stands had to be assembled. 75-year old Schneider remembers: “We hadn’t experienced such a crowd of spectators until that day.” The first huge title for a German Volleyball team was the starting point not only for a great future of SC LEIPZIG but also for the entire Volleyball family of the former GDR. Dominating European club Volleyball at that time, the Soviet Union did not send a single team to participate in the European Cups that season as the national team were putting all of their efforts into preparation for Tokyo’s 1964 Olympic Games. LEIPZIG qualified for the Champions Cup final again in 1975 losing to CSKA MOSCOW and didn’t win any other international title.
Germany’s Volleyball fans had to wait until 1990 for another international triumph: MOERSER SC with “Hammer-Schorsch” Georg Grozer – father to the player bearing the same name that his currently wearing the shirt of Belogorie BELGOROD – took the CEV Cup crown edging Partizan BEOGRAD. Currently the club plays in the fourth division in Germany after withdrawing from the Bundesliga.
During the 1990s and 2000s Stelian Moculescu managed to qualify for the Champions Cup / Champions League Final Four five times. At his premiere appearance in Europe’s top-class club competition with ASV DACHAU in 1996 he was outdone by the Italian top team LAS Daytona MODENA in the final. As head coach of VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN he has always played in Europe’s elite club competition ever since this was introduced in the 2000-2001 season. His team reached the finals in 2005 and 2007 as well as in 1999 and 2000 (back then under the competition’s former denomination, Champions Cup). Their last participation in a Champions League Final Four tournament – in 2007 – was also their most successful one as the team claimed the title in Moscow (see picture).
On the first appearance of the BERLIN Recycling Volleys in the Final Four Moculescu says: “I am happy that the Final Four will be taking place in Berlin. It is the place to be in Europe and the hosts are doing a good job!” Georg Grozer senior, part of the MOERSER SC team in 1990, is of the same opinion: “To be announced the host of this year’s Final Four shows that the BERLIN Recycling Volleys are a great team - not only the players on the court, but also the organisers behind the scenes. I wish them all the best.” Siegfried Schneider, protagonist of the first international triumph for German Volleyball with SC LEIPZIG, also sends his best wishes to Berlin: “I speak from my personal experience when I say that home advantage plays a big role. I wish the best for the BERLIN Recycling Volleys and good luck for the Final Four.”
For further information on the Final Four tournament visit the official website and Facebook page available here below:
http://berlin2015.br-volleys.de/index.php/en/
https://www.facebook.com/CLfinal4
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