15/09/2016 12:00
Montenegro set sights on historic qualification to #EuroVolley Final Round
2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men
Podgorica, Montenegro, September 15, 2016. On Wednesday, September 14 a press conference was organised in the Montenegrin capital, only two days away from the start of the second-round European qualifier that will be taking place later this weekend. The men’s national team of Montenegro will be hosting Spain, Germany and Switzerland at Moraca sports hall in Podgorica for the first of two round robin tournaments on schedule in Pool A.
“This is a great opportunity for us to play for a big goal. As a result, our thoughts, efforts and hard work were focussed on the desire of advancing to the next round and achieving an unprecedented result. The team is ready, both mentally and physically, for three very difficult matches in three days. Last year’s World League tournament in Podgorica showed how much it means to us when we play in front of our fans, so I sincerely hope that this will happen again. We invite all Volleyball fans to come and support us, to be our additional player and give us wings in order to achieve the best possible result,” said the captain of the home team, Vojin Cacic while opening the press conference.
“Since the arrival of Slobodan Boskan as head coach of our national team, we have been playing better and better from year to year. This is a great opportunity for this generation to round off everything we have done all these years and to qualify for the European Championship, which would crown the work we have done for the past few seasons,” Cacic added.
The men’s Volleyball team of Montenegro will be trying to finish first in the pool or at least second in order to advance to the third and last stage of the qualification process, said opposite Milos Culafic. “This will be a difficult tournament, but the time is right to qualify for the European Championship. It is a big competition, and I think we deserve to get there. It will be difficult, but we are ready and we all want that. I expect that if we play our best, we can finish first in the pool. We can also finish second and will have another chance, but we will try to secure the first place, especially since we have the advantage of playing at home and it means a lot. I am satisfied with our preparation, I have not played for a long time, but the performance can always get better, while the injury belongs to the past,” Culafic said.
“There are no weak teams, we are all fighting for the same goal, and we have to take it as seriously as possible. We are stronger than Switzerland, but we can beat them only by remaining focussed from start to end. It will be difficult, this is the first match, but after we defeat them, we are going to play the following matches with less pressure,” he continued.
After the first round robin tournament in Podgorica, another one will follow one week later in Las Palmas, Spain. Montenegro will first play Switzerland on Friday, September 16 before the matches with Spain and Germany follow on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The matches of Team Montenegro will all start at 7pm local time.
Click here for more info including a detailed match programme
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