Luxembourg, January 13, 2021. Big day in Skopje as tournament hosts Team Macedonia prepare for their very interesting clash with pool favourites Turkey in the duel of the two undefeated national teams that have so far fulfilled the plan with a victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For TEAM MKD this will be a match of memories of the triumphs in the group stage of the CEV European League in 2014, but also of the defeat at the last continental summit in Ljubljana, when the Turkish team celebrated a win in three sets.
The coaches and players know each other very well, so tactical surprises are unlikely, although not to be ruled out.

The Macedonian national team was one step away from the eight-finals in 2019, but in the last group round Turkey had a 2-1 lead against Finland, then lost 3-2, so the red and yellows did not travel for a historic match with France in Nantes. Nevertheless, the 17th place in their first participation at a major European stage had a historic dimension and created a dose of pressure that the European Championships should be a permanent destination for Macedonian volleyball players. Turkey went a step further, but lost to Italy and finished 12th in the final standings.

"Turkey is a strong team, it has great potential, but I think it is not invincible. If we play much better than we did against Bosnia and Herzegovina, then we can think that we will match them. I wish we start well, then we will have stability and make the right decisions on the court," said Macedonian captain Nikola Gjorgiev, who was a member of the national team in the triumphant CEV European league matches against Turkey in the same arena in Skopje on June 21 and June 22, 2014 (3-1 and 3-0). 

The Turkish star, opposite Adis Lagumdzija, was then a teenager and did not wear the national jersey, but on September 13, 2019, in "Stozice" in Ljubljana, he won 19 points against the Macedonian team. "We started well against Bosnia and Herzegovina. We only need to make one correction, and that is the service. Yesterday we made a lot of mistakes, and if we improve that element, I think we will score the second victory of the tournament," Lagumdzija is convinced. 

The key to success for the Macedonian team today could very well be defense against him and against the outside spiker Burutay Subasi, who was not part of the Turkish team at the last European Championship. Watch it all unfold on EuroVolley.TV!