29/06/2015 22:48
Austria’s men set their sight on qualification for European League Final Four
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Vienna, Austria, June 29, 2015. The 2015 edition of the CEV Volleyball European League – Men will get underway this coming Friday in Enns with the match starring the home heroes of Austria and Israel. The second matchup between these teams will then follow on Saturday, July 4, at the same venue. Team Austria will then play the other teams assigned to their pool, i.e. Poland, Estonia, the F.Y.R. of Macedonia and Denmark.
The preparations for the European League campaign started already at the end of May for Team Austria in Innsbruck and were followed by another camp at the VIVA Landessportzentrum in the city of Steinbrunn where the Austrians also played two friendly matches with Switzerland, which ended in a 3:0 and a 3:2 win for the home side. The guys around head coach Michael Warm are finalising their work for the home debut in Enns with another camp in Tulln, the venue where they will be hosting Estonia’s national team on July 25-26.
Austria’s mentor Michael Warm says: “Unlike the past years I have had the chance to start the preparations with players that had already rested after the end of their club season. Our work started at the end of May and it went really well. It is also clear that many players have matured trough the challenges they have experienced with their respective clubs. I think that the general impression is much better than last year.”
Austria’s team captain Alexander Berger announced during a press conference held at the Marriott Hotel in Vienna that in 2015-2016 he will move from France’s NANTES Rezé Métropole to Italy’s first division team Tonazzo PADOVA: “We take it one match at a time. If we want to make the Final Four or even the ‘big final’, we have to take full points right from the opening round that we will be playing this weekend in Enns. After this campaign with the national team I am going to take on the next challenge. With PADOVA I will be playing in the same league as some of the most accomplished international stars. PADOVA will be relying on a young team and I am really looking forward to this challenge.”
Israel will be Austria’s first opponent on July 3-4 in Enns. “The Israelis are the great question mark in our group especially since they did not play that many international matches lately,” coach Warm said.
After the home round with Israel, Austria will travel to Poland to play the B-Team from the country that last year won gold at a home World Championship. “There are many top-level players in Poland and every season some up-and-coming guys join the extended roster of the national team. This way it makes sense for them to play even two international competitions at the same time, the other being the World League, so that as many as possible of their players can get some international experience,” Warm continues.
After Poland, Austria will host Estonia which is returning to the stage of the European League for the first time since 2006: “After recording two wins with Sweden, Estonia recently made it through the third qualification stage and through to the Final Round of the European Championship. Their superstar Oliver Venno left his mark on both matches as the team’s top scorer,” Warm says about the opponent that Austria will host on July 25-26 in Tulln.
Austria will then play the remaining two rounds away from home first taking on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. “This is a strong opponent. They finished third in last year’s European League and this speaks for itself,” Warm says. “The best scorer of the French national league belongs to their ranks. This season they most probably have set their sight on the European League title.”
The last opponent for Austria will be Denmark which the guys in red and white shirts will be playing for the third consecutive season in the European League. Like in the 2014 campaign the matches between Austria and Denmark will conclude the preliminary phase of the competition.
A total of 12 teams are participating in this year’s European League and are fighting for gold, including three – Poland, Greece and Turkey – that are currently playing also in the elite FIVB World League. “All teams know that the winners make it to the World League next year. Our goal this season is to make the Final Four tournament which is expected to take place in Poland,” Warm concluded.
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