All eyes on #EuroVolleyM Pool D Derby: Türkiye take on Olympic champs France
Preview
After a thrilling opener in Pool D on Tuesday, the #EuroVolleyM show in Tel Aviv continues with two more exciting matches on Wednesday.
The new addition to VNL, the world’s men elite, Türkiye take on the reigning Olympic champs of France in the first game of the day, starting at 17:00h local time. The cherry on the top of the cake, as many refer to this match, will feature the two big favoruites in the group locking horns in a big derby that might turn out to be a tactical battle between two Italian specialists - Andrea Giani that is at the helm of France, and Alberto Giuliani that is leading Türkiye.
The reigning Olympic champions of France will enter the court, looking for a positive opener of their 2023 #EuroVolleyM campaign. Back in 2021, Les Blues didn’t achieve their best result, being eliminated from the competition in the eight-finals phase, losing 0-3 to Czechia. In 2023, however, they will be on the lookout for repeating their European success from 2015, when they claimed the title, and a victory against the strongest opponent in Pool D would be a dreamy start for the players of head coach Andrea Giani.
However, this won’t be achieved easily, as on the other side of the net, there will be the inspired Turkish team, that has been improving step by step their performance, and are hungry for big successes on the European Volleyball Stage. Türkiye have never made it to the podium of EuroVolley, as their best result so far has been the 10th place in 2021.
Counting on top performers as Adis Lagmdzija and Efe Bayram, the latest big achievement of the Turkish team was winning the Challenger Cup in late July, stamping their ticket to VNL 2024, while before that they had won the 2023 Golden Euro League.
Lagumdzija, (104), who finished as one of the five players in 2021 that have recorded 100+ killing spikes at 2021 #EuroVolleyM, alongside with Nimir Abdel Aziz (146), Uros Kovacevic (109), Toncek Stern (105) and Wilfredo Leon Venero (102), is more than ready to take on the challenge of leading his team towards disappointing the reigning Olympic champions.
Another big matchup is scheduled for later that evening in Shlomo Group Arena as Romania lock horns with Portugal at 20:00 local time.
In 2019, the two teams met on the court at EuroVolley pool phase, and it was the Romanian team that claimed the victory at 3-1.
This will be the third successive participation of the Portugal team at EuroVolley, as back in 2021, they reached the knockout stage for a first time. In the eight-finals battle as they lost 2-3 to the Netherlands, but showing a fighting spirit they proved themselves once again of being an opponent that the other teams should not underestimate. However, their biggest achievement so far was a fourth place in their debut at 1948, and they are yet to improve this performance.
The Romanian team, on the other hand, has won the trophy in 1963, and in 2023, they are making their 18th appearance. Romania did not take part in EuroVolley 2021, as their only previous appearance this century was in 2019, when they lost four of their five Pool phase matches.
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