23/08/2017 14:52
Team Serbia and hosts Poland look forward to historic match before 65,000 fans
2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men
Warsaw, Poland, August 23, 2017. Team Serbia and hosts Poland are looking forward to the historic Opening Match of LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017, which will be taking place before a record-breaking crowd of 65,000 at PGE National Stadium in Warsaw on Thursday night. Next to many TV stations broadcasting it live, Volleyball fans from across the world will be able to follow the Volleyball event of the year via the live streaming available on the official CEV YouTube channel as well as on the CEV EuroVolley Facebook page.
“There is no doubt that it will be a tough match tomorrow,” Serbia team captain Dragan Stankovic said addressing the media on Wednesday. “Two top teams will play against each other, but we need to think also about other factors like this huge stadium, more than 60,000 fans in attendance and probably the low temperature as well. Therefore, this is an environment we need to be prepared for. We have experience from previous matches played at such stadiums, since we played the Opening Match of the World Championship here three years ago and some more such matches during the Final Six of this year’s World League in Brazil as well. We know what we can expect and we will do our best not to repeat the same mistakes [from 2014] and to be better. We will try to win this game.”
“We would like to start playing now because we have been waiting for this match for quite some time,” Poland team captain Michal Kubiak added. “Of course, there have been many questions about the weather - if it is going to be too hot or too cold, but the truth is that both teams will have the same conditions, probably it will be colder that we all wish it would be, but we don’t have any influence on the weather. One thing is for sure: there will be more than 60,000 fans cheering us on. See you tomorrow!”
“We had a tough summer, actually a very long one,” said Serbia coach Nikola Grbic. “We tried to prepare as well as we could for the European Championship. Everybody is talking about this first game. It is a very important game, but the European Championship is a very long tournament. If we win tomorrow, it will be a good thing, because of the result and since any such victory would make us feel stronger mentally. However, there are many matches to play after it. Therefore, I do not want to put my whole concentration only onto this match, because if we lose it, the European Championship will not be finished. Previous results confirm that if you do not play every game at 100%, you can lose with any opponent. Therefore, I want my players to play the best they can in every game they contest.”
“I would like to welcome our opponent, I know them very well and I like to play against them very much,” Poland coach Ferdinando De Giorgi commented. “We want to stay focused on what is ahead of us. We have been working very hard for seven weeks and we want to seize our chance. We are aware that Serbia is a very strong team and tomorrow’s match will be hard, but as I said we have worked hard and we have faith in what we have done so far.”
“I welcome the teams who will play tomorrow probably the most important match of the pool phase, the next time we will face maybe when medals will be at stake,” said the President of the Polish Volleyball Federation, Mr Jacek Kasprzyk. “I wish the two teams will stay injury-free, especially because both Poland and Serbia have experienced some misfortunes. My wish is that this tournament – LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017 – will go down in history just like the 2014 World Championship as the best Volleyball tournament ever.”
“This is the second time the Polish Volleyball Federation organises the opening match of such a major event. I strongly believe that it will be a great success, like it was three years ago,” added CEV Vice President, Lubor Halanda. “On behalf of the European Volleyball Confederation, I would like to thank the Polish Volleyball Federation for organising this great event. I would like to thank the sponsors, volunteers and all people involved in the organisation of this tournament. I wish the best of luck to all teams and may the best team win this amazing European Championship!”
“We are ready to host both teams and all spectators at PGE National Stadium. We have worked hard to prepare everything in time,” concluded Monika Borzdynska, Communications and Promotion Director and Spokesperson of PL.2012+. “It will be a tremendous event with 65,000 fans, most of these people will be cheering for the Polish national team and I hope that this support will help our team achieve a good result. The PGE National Stadium is a place of positive energy and I am sure that tomorrow we will show that once again.”
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