09/07/2015 16:40
Greece determined to perform well in European League despite ongoing, dramatic financial crisis
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Thessaloniki, Greece, July 10, 2015. Greece is currently under a lot of pressure, but the men’s Volleyball national team stays true to the CEV Volleyball European League this year, too, despite all the financial problems that the country is going through. The players around Sotirios Drikos will start their campaign on home soil with two matches against Romania coming up on Friday and Saturday, July 10 and 11, at the Evosmos Municipal Sports Hall in Thessaloniki, hoping for the best after last season they finished the competition in second place.
The countdown started on Thursday with the official press conference of the Greek team, which gave to the hosts the opportunity to stress the importance of being part of the CEV Volleyball European League once again.
“Our participation in such competitions is absolutely necessary for a young team such as ours. It is a mechanism of progress for us. Being part of this, despite all problems, is a victory for us. Last year we finished second in the European League, but right now we start from scratch with new rivals and different goals for everyone. We wish to reach the top once again, but first of all our goal is to maintain the progress we made in the FIVB World League matches, which will not be easy. We want to prove that the Greek team doesn’t depend only on some key players,” Drikos said.
Mr Drikos also commented on the upcoming opponents: “Pool B is going to be tough and many things will depend on how Croatia, Slovenia and Belarus will face these games in view of their participation in the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship. Our first rival, Romania, will have a much more experienced team than ours. Their youngest players might be older than our most experienced ones.”
Greek team captain Menelaos Kokkinakis added: “We are facing hard times, but we are standing here and I don’t think that the Greek financial problems will affect us. On the contrary, we will try to be competitive. Last year we did well in the European League, however we must try to forget that and focus on this season. There are strong rivals in our group and we must try hard in order to get as many victories as possible.”
Moreover, the President of the Hellenic Volleyball Federation, Mr Achilleas Mavromatis, expressed his gratitude towards the players and staff of the Greek national team, but also towards the international Volleyball institutions: “We hope that our participation in this League will conclude no earlier than in the Final Four. When the last Greek crisis started, we could even consider our withdrawal from the European League, but we insisted on remaining faithful to our plan and keep on playing. Life must go on and sport gives strength to all of us in such hard times. I must thank the team players and technical staff, my colleagues at the Federation, as well as the international Volleyball community, the FIVB, the CEV and the Balkan Volleyball Association, for their support and understanding.”
|