The EuroVolley campaign in Budapest goes on, even if the Hungarian team are already out of the competition. The two best teams from Pool C, so the unbeaten Netherlands and Azerbaijan along with freshly arrived from Ankara – Greece and Bulgaria, met with media representatives sharing their thoughts and feeling before the round of 16. Every team dream about the ticket to Ankara, where the EuroVolley 2019 finals will be held next week.
Styliani CHRISTODOULOU“We are really proud of ourselves to qualify for the next round of the European Championship. We know that tomorrow we have to play against the Netherlands, which are a very strong team. But we are ready to fight and we want to give our best on the court and fight for every point. For sure we are not here to give up, because of our opponent. We have a great team spirit, we play with passion on the court and every time we give our best.”
captain of Greece
Guilermo NARANJO HERNANDEZ, head coach of Greece:
“Our pool was one of the toughest, you could see it by results from the teams which were not the top ones - i.e. France beat Bulgaria and Finland almost defeated Turkey. It shows that level was very high. I think we did our job very well. We focused on the opponents and tried to beat all rivals which can give us qualification to the next round. In less than three weeks we are facing three of top 10 teams in the worlds (Turkey, Serbia, Netherlands) -it's exciting for us, because we don't have such opportunity every summer. We prepare to every game the same way, and we will do the same tomorrow, of course we will face the Netherlands, but let’s see what they show and what we will be able to play.”
Jamie MORRISON, head coach of the Netherlands:
“We had a good preliminary round. We played with many players and they all improved during these five matches. We are excited about the opportunity in front of us. Greece is a good volleyball team and we are looking forward to play against them. Girls went to explore the city yesterday and they enjoyed themselves, but today in the morning we got back in business, so we are ready to go.”
Maret BALKESTEIN-GROTHUES, captain of the Netherland:
"My ankle is better day by day. Today, I started practice again. We did a good job in pool phase - we won five matches 3-0, so our goal is of course to go to Ankara. We played against Greece two years ago at the world championship qualifier. They have some good players and now it's our job to stop them and to make a good match. As a team we feel good and we want to play again.”
Giovanni CAPRARA, head coach of Azerbaijan:
“We have to develop our play. I would like to see more stability from my team in game against Bulgaria. It will be a tough battle, but I remain hopeful to get through. All the teams which stayed in the competition are really strong, so from now on, we don’t need to calculate or count, we can only face good teams.”
Odina ALIYEVA, captain of Azerbaijan:
“Regarding the result, to be second in this group, we should be satisfied, but our style of play was not at a high level. When the team struggled, our key player Polina Rahimova saved our life. We need to improve our serve and reception, then we can dream of marching forward.”
Ivan PETKOV, head coach of Bulgaria:
“Last year we managed to win the Golden European League Final Four in Budapest. But that time we had a different squad. I can say that we are in a good shape, we have no injured players, so I can count on everybody.”
Elitsa VASILEVA“We had a really tough group phase, we struggled a lot, but finally we went through it and we are going to face Azerbaijan, which is a strong team. I feel we are capable to beat them.”
captain of Bulgaria