The European Volleyball Men’s Championship will be played from August 28 to September 16. shows the most interesting matches.
The European Championship tournament of the Finnish men’s national volleyball team ended on Monday, when Ukraine won the match in five sets 25–23, 25–17, 23–25, 24–26, 15–13.
Finland’s fate was decided after the first two rounds. Then the chipper who had been waiting for almost the entire tournament got his turn on the court Aaro Nikulawho scored 15 points for his team with a whopping 75 attack percentage.
– Quite a good game from me, but of course it’s sad when we didn’t get the three points that would have been required to continue. Having waited long enough in the substitution, of course I had to show myself, Nikula evaluates his match.
The captain’s mate Eemi Terportin according to the continuation place was a goal that was not achieved.
– During the so-called long break – after two sets – we thought, should we be depressed or should we fight? We fought and saw Finland, which played in the first two games of the group, Terportorti summed up the match against Ukraine.
Urheilu’s volleyball expert agrees with the captain Timo Tolvanen. When the pressure disappeared, the team enjoyed themselves and played more courageously.
– At no point during this tournament was Finland under pressure at its best.
Relaxation disappeared, uniformity was missing
Finland started the EC tournament with a convincing victory over Croatia. In the second match against Bulgaria and the third against Slovenia, Finland was stronger than expected, even though they lost the matches. The team also flexed when dealing with Spain and Ukraine.
– The results of the matches against Bulgaria and Slovenia were not expected, and the team played relatively relaxed. When it was noticed that we could win the set, the relaxation disappeared. It marked the whole tournament, Tolvanen estimated.
In addition, the Finnish team was hampered by unevenness. At times the attacking game was good, but the defense faltered or the attacks were successful, but the reception was lame.
– For example, both general players did not succeed in the same game before the Ukraine match. In previous games, one succeeded, but the other didn’t. The same was seen in the hacker game. At the start of the tournament Joonas Jokela was really good, but didn’t succeed at the end of the first block. Consistency was lacking.
In the EC games, something that has plagued Finland for years was also highlighted: the passing game. Finland was behind the other teams in its group in that area.
In the five matches of this tournament, Finland recorded 88 serving errors, while Croatia, which played the same number, has 74. Of those who have played four matches, Slovenia has made the best passes (44 errors), followed by Spain (57), Ukraine (69) and Bulgaria (71).
– It’s a matter of eternity, where Finland is somewhat behind. However, we are a small and tiny volleyball country, and we could not give the opponent several points in each set with a passing game or imprecise performances. If we are not the strongest and most powerful, we should be more precise and careful.
Young and inexperienced, young and inexperienced…
It was stated many times that Finland had a lot of young and inexperienced players in the tournament. For example, the head coach Joel Banks repeated several times that the team is just growing to its peak level. There were six first-timers at the European Championship, and in addition six players were in their second European Championships.
However, inexperience is not the reason why Finland was left in the first group, and the players didn’t claim that either.
– I don’t know if it’s a matter of inexperience. Not only were we ready in the Spain game, but we expected the guy to give us the points. That game was a bit exciting. When the guy came to play casually… maybe it showed that he couldn’t hold on in a tight position, captain Terportorti assessed after the match against Ukraine.
According to expert Tolvanen, inexperience could be seen in those moments when the team played a tight set to win. He also stated that the tournament did not bore the youth of the players.
– It cannot be thought that all games are only places for growth. Finland showed in these games that the next place could have been taken if the level of play had remained sufficiently even.
Tolvanen states that Finland played good games considering the starting points. He reminds that important players were left out of the team just before the start of the tournament.
For example, a general player Antti Ronkainen and middle players Miro Leinonen, Petteri Tyynismaa and Severi Savonsalmi were not involved due to injuries. Tolvanen believes that it may have contributed to the preparation and success.
– On the other hand, the newcomers performed well. It should be noted that, for example Alexei Zhbankov and Luka Marttila did well in their first prize competitions. Marttila was perhaps even the best Finn at the Games.
Olympic qualifiers in September-October
The Finnish pilots do not take a long break from the national team games, because the Olympic qualifying tournament is soon ahead. The four groups of the men’s qualifying tournament will be played from September 30 to September 8. October as a simple series of eight teams. The best two of the groups (6 in total) get a place at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Finland, ranked 26th in the world, is in Group B, which also includes the United States (2nd in the world), Slovenia (8th), Serbia (9th), Turkey (12th), Tunisia (19th) and Egypt (20th). .
Finland’s assistant coach Oskar Muurinen said after the Ukraine match that the Finnish coaching staff will analyze the EC tournament and then consider whether changes will be made to the player group.
– Many things in the Finnish team will surely increase in the Olympic qualification, but the expectations are not terribly high due to the difficulty of the group, Tolvanen estimates.
According to him, Finland will probably continue to the qualifying tournament with exactly the same lineup. For example, none of the injured will apparently recover by the end of September, says Tolvanen.
– For example, the passport department has a good situation when Finland has two good passport holders. I hope Eemi (Terportorti) continues, because if she leaves Federin (Ivanov) currently no one is known as a couple.
When Terporti was asked after the Ukraine match if he will be seen again at the European Championship, he answered briefly:
– I dont tell.