15/09/2016 14:02
Team Finland target sixth straight EuroVolley Final Round appearance
2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men
Sønderborg, Denmark, September 15, 2016. The Finnish men’s national team has been a force to be reckoned with for a few years already. Back in 2007 they finished in fourth place at the European Championship in Moscow, their best result to date in an international competition. The captain of that team – Tuomas Sammelvuo – is now coaching Team Finland as they try to secure their sixth consecutive appearance in the Final Round of the EuroVolley. Finland want to be a part of the show that will unfold next year in Poland – when Europe’s Volleyball ‘Mecca’ will be playing host to the men’s EuroVolley Finals.
Finland will be playing later this weekend the national teams of Portugal, Sweden and hosts Denmark in Sønderborg. The second of two round robin tournaments will follow next week in Helsinki. Only the eventual winners of the pool will secure their participation in the Final Round – the runners-up will have one extra chance in early October with home and away matches against the second-place finishers of another pool.
After achieving good results in this year’s FIVB World League, Team Finland continued their preparations in the best way and prior to travelling to Denmark they claimed four wins out of as many friendly matches they contested with Austria and Slovakia.
“After a break following the World League we could get back to our rhythm quite easily. We played different opponents and this helped us prepare for the qualification tournaments,” Sammelvuo said.
He does not want to see his team as the pre-favourites of the European qualifiers, but rather prefers to take it one match at a time. “Our fans of course expect us to qualify to the European Championship as we do as well, but we respect all other teams. We have to understand that we need to take our wins from the court. Winning a match is the result stemming from good daily practices and a solid performance,” he continued.
His recipe to make it to the EuroVolley Finals for the sixth straight edition is simple: “We need to win all matches and have to play better than our opponents.”
Finland and Portugal know each other pretty well. Last year Finland claimed four wins in as many matches they played with Portugal in the World League but earlier this summer Portugal celebrated a 3-2 win in Tampere. “When playing Portugal, we will have to be patient,” Sammelvuo stressed. “We always had a lot of long rallies in our previous matches.”
Team captain and setter Eemi Tervaportti is confident ahead of the European qualifiers. “We arrived here in Denmark on Tuesday, so we had some time to recover from the trip and to practice a bit before the first match on Friday. Our team is in a good mood,” he said. “My role as a captain is not the main focus. I want to be more of an example on the court and help in my role as setter. We have to win and will work as a team.”
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