04/11/2015 18:41
Galatasaray ISTANBUL determined to start well in the CEV Cup
2016 CEV Volleyball Cup - Men
Istanbul, Turkey, November 4, 2015. Even though last year they failed to make the semis of the 2015 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Men losing to eventual winners Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD of Serbia, Turkey’s Galatasaray ISTANBUL continued to perform well on the domestic scene and eventually got the right to compete in the 2016 edition of the CEV Volleyball Cup. Their adventure is set to start on Thursday night when they host Romania’s Volei Municipal ZALAU.
Galatasaray’s experienced head coach Nedim Özbey says: “We have some young players who were grown at Galatasaray Volleyball Academy. They have been a part of our team for the last two seasons already. What we did regarding transfers this season was to get experienced players like Liberman Agamez of Colombia, Finnish setter Eemi Tervaportti or Turkish middle blocker Emin Gök to strengthen the pack. We already have two injured players, and one of them will definitely not play tomorrow and the losses we had in the Turkish national championship do not make us happy either. As a former player and a fan of Galatasaray, it is a great honour to me to coach this team. We want to start the 2016 CEV Volleyball Cup with a victory. Our opponent is a young team which is physically very imposing and gifted. It is not going to be easy.”
On the other side, Stoyan Stoev, the Bulgarian-born head coach of Volei Municipal ZALAU, stated that his team is probably the only one in their national league which is mostly composed of Romanian players. Stoev continued: “The only two non-Romanian players we have are Leonardo Joao Dal Bosco of Brazil, and our setter Marin Lescov from Moldova. We are proud of the roster we have put together for this season. The trip from Zalau to Istanbul was tiring. But we are well hosted in Istanbul, so it took the edge off. We have had two defeats in the Romanian national league. That is why this match has become even more important for us. We want to start the 2016 CEV Volleyball Cup with a clear victory. It will also be a great source of motivation for us. Tomorrow’s match is not going to be easy, neither for us nor for our hosts, Galatasaray.”
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