The European Volleyball Men’s Championship will be played from August 28 to September 16. In Italy, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Israel. shows all Finnish matches and the most interesting games of the games on TV2 and Areena. Finland–Slovenia on Friday 1 September. live on TV2 and Areena from 17:15.
The Finnish men’s national volleyball team lost to Bulgaria in their second match of the EC tournament. The sets went to Bulgaria 28–26, 27–25, 15–25, 25–16.
Especially the narrow losses in the first two sets felt bitter. Finnish chipper Joonas Jokela said that the team was confident that it would be able to challenge the stronger Bulgaria beforehand. Even so, he was a little surprised.
– If someone had claimed that we have tie balls against Bulgaria in the first and second set and the third set will be taken however we want, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. Of course, it’s sad when, in principle, there was a 3–0 victory two points away, but maybe we can learn from this, Jokela estimates.
Also Finland’s 19-year-old general player Luka Marttila was satisfied with his team’s performance.
– We gained more experience, we have a young team. It also gives you confidence when we kept up with such a gang in these (ranking tournament) games, Marttila stated.
The world’s peaks as a measure
Urheilu’s volleyball expert Mikko Esko is, like the Finnish team, satisfied with the match against Bulgaria. Passing and blowing out the final set get points.
– The fourth set got off to a bad start right from the start, Finland couldn’t get a hold and Bulgaria went out of their way. Rested in the third period Tsvetan Sokolov played an important role in the final.
– The passing game in the Bulgaria match is not enough against a team of Slovenia’s caliber, Esko says.
On Friday, Finland will face Slovenia, which is considered to be the strongest team in Group B. In the ranking of the European Volleyball Federation, Slovenia is fifth. Finland has to play a top game if the team is going to beat Slovenia.
– Slovenia is a really tough measure, but at the same time the meeting is a great situation for the young team. They get to measure their own level against the world’s best. You should get everything you can out of the game.
Expert Timo Tolvanen pondered on ‘s broadcast whether Finland could rotate its lineup a bit in the match against Slovenia.
– The team has to load up all the guns for the important Spain game. The match against Slovenia could be a good break for them, who played a lot in the first two matches, Tolvanen thought.
The head coach flashed a similar thought Joel Banks. He said that Finland has a full team in the tournament.
– The boys have given everything in the first two matches – especially mentally, but also physically. We need to charge the batteries as fast as possible because we have an early match. There is not much recovery time, but this is tournament volleyball, Banks estimates.
Luka Marttila succinctly stated that the players will be able to return to the match.
– (Slovenia is) a really, really, really tough team. There are really tough wingers and center backs. The team doesn’t really have any weak points, Marttila described the next opponent.
Kimurantti group standingsFinland’s group standings, top four advance
Expert Esko says that Finland should not start counting points yet. The group is already at this stage of the tournament going to the kimurant. For example, Spain’s 3–1 win over Bulgaria and Ukraine’s two losses are somewhat surprising results.
– There may be more surprises in the future. Ukraine has been really quiet. On Thursday against Croatia, the team was somehow spiritless and frustrated. Finland has a good chance against Ukraine if the team play is as strong in the future.
Finland and Ukraine will play in the last round of the initial group. Before that, Finland meets Spain. Looking ahead, Spain is the team that Finland should beat.
– In advance, Finland has a good setup for the match against Spain. The team has rested for one day, while Spain again plays for the third day in a row.