13/05/2020 11:00
Mitar Tzourits retires from Greece national team
News from the National Federations
Athens, Greece, May 13, 2020. After as many as 13 years and collecting 126 international caps, Mitar Tzourits has come to the difficult decision to retire from the Greek men’s national team. Through his interview published on the Hellenic Volleyball Federation’s website, the now former captain recalls memories, expresses gratitude and shares moments that he will never forget for the rest of his life.
When did you decide to quit the national team and why?
I have been thinking about it for a long time but I made the decision last year. I have suffered a lot in the last decade and all of my summers have been full and difficult. My parents are in Serbia, my wife in Italy and I was in Greece with the national team every summer to ‘fight’ for them and with them. Therefore, when I got married and had a child, I decided that priority would go to my family. I want to be with them in the summer, I do not want to live on a suitcase, as it was the case in the last decade. The last two years have been especially exhausting for me due to injuries and I think it is time for the younger athletes to play and I hope that they become even better than me.
Do you remember the first time you played with the national team?
I made my first preparation in 2007 with head coach Alekos Leonis. I did not play then because I did not have a Greek passport yet. I trained with the men’s team and the following year I managed to play for the first time and I remember the first match in Glyfada. It was a friendly game with Australia. I played as an outside hitter then. The same summer I played in the European League against Great Britain, Portugal and Slovakia. In fact, I played opposite instead of Nikolaos Roumeliotis and Apostolos Armenakis. I will never forget the first time I wore the national team jersey. I shuddered; it was a special moment.
Tzourits surrounded by his teammates after Greece beat Slovenia in the semis of the 2014 European League, one of his sweetest memories in 13 years spent with the national team
What are your best memories playing with the national team?
The first thing I remember is the celebrations with Konstantinos Christofidelis and Todor Baev at the 2009 European Championship in Turkey, when we made it to the quarterfinals. In 2014, our win against Slovenia in Maribor where we qualified for the final of the European League was special. We beat the Slovenians, who one year later reached the gold medal match of the European Championship in Bulgaria. I remember I scored the last point and I saw all of my teammates running towards me. It was an incredible victory...
Whom would you like to thank for the last 13 years with the national team?
I would like to thank one by one my teammates, my coaches and the fans who stood by us and loved me. I will always have the national jersey in my closet and I will never forget the 13 wonderful years that I spent with Team Greece. I will always be their most loyal fan…
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