Urheilu’s expert Mikko Esko has liked what he saw this summer when the Finnish men’s national volleyball team played. In particular, the working cooperation of passer Fedor Ivanov and chipper Aaro Nikula is important for the team.
Petri Sjöblom,
Anu Karttunen
broadcasts the European volleyball qualifying matches on its channels. Between Finland and Austria 10.8. the EC qualifying match to be played starts at Areena at 18:45 and on TV2 at 19:10.
The Finnish men’s national volleyball team opened the European Championship qualifiers with a real heist, when they defeated Latvia 3–1 away from home. Today in Tampere’s Hakametsä, Finland will face Austria, who started their EC qualification with a 1-3 loss to Latvia.
Sports expert Mikko Esko According to Finland, already in the second match, a must-win is ahead.
– That Austria-Latvia match wasn’t quite a shout from Latvia, but a relatively tight game. Finland’s first away win against Latvia was really great, but in order to get the most out of it, today we have to win against Austria, especially when we are playing at home, Esko said.
Finland has been neck and neck in mutual matches, as it has won no fewer than 16 of the 18 matches played. The previous loss to Austria was 25 years ago. However, Esko reminds us that there is no room for slacking off.
– I have to start with really hard concentration right from the start and take the game home in style, if nothing else then even by force. You just have to take advantage of it. No team is bad in this group.
New bearers of responsibility have emerged
There has been talk of a generational change in the Finnish team for a few years now, but now by Joel Banks during that time it has really come true. The competition horses of previous years are on the sidelines, for example the chopper Urpo Sivula has decided the national team games and passari Eemi Terportti said thank you no to summer games. However, new bearers of responsibility have emerged.
In the Latvia match, the name of the match was a 23-year-old and 212-centimeter chipper Aaro Nikulawho scored 21 points effectively passari Fedor Ivanov, 21, about passports. Esko reminded that the same duo started the games from the bench in the final tournament of the Silver League.
– They came on the field as a substitute in the middle of the semifinal game and played really well. Now they have both broken into the starting six and taken on the clear roles of number one passer and number one chipper, Esko said.
– Finland needs a hacker game like that of Aaro Nikula, if they are going to make it and get to the games from these EC qualifiers. That’s one such link that when it works, it’s good to build around it.
Hungry and motivated players
Mikko Esko played 305 national matches in his national team career and was part of the Finnish team at the European Championships in Tampere a year ago. Esko saw the success of Finland’s golden generation and has now closely followed the change of the national team. He’s liked what he’s seen.
– The team works well together and writes its own story. Joel Banks has coached the team for a couple of years and hoped that the team would start to write it in their story and not live in those old days anymore, Esko said.
– This is a pretty good group. There are six guys on the field and even more on the bench who are moving forward in their careers.
The team prepared for the European Championship qualification with a long camp again and played for promotion to the Golden League in June. This time, however, the promotion was not successful, as Finland lost to Romania 2–3 in the final match of the Silver League.
– Really hard work has been done there all summer, and that Hopeinen league didn’t look bad either. The only thing was that I didn’t get the best prize, but even there the playing was very good. Yes, it has been nice to watch Finland play, Esko stated.