EuroVolleyM: Portugal and Serbia clash looking to rebound
Preview
The sixth day of the CEV EuroVolley 2021 Men brings new opportunities for each of the 16 teams that will be in action across the host cities, but when they enter the court in Krakow for their Pool A meeting, Portugal and Serbia will be looking for the same thing – redemption.
Even though they entered the tournament with different aspirations and will probably use distinct factors to measure their success, Portuguese and Serbians share the fact that they lost their most recent matches in the EuroVolley and will be looking to bounce back when they clash in Krakow.
The Portuguese had a promising debut in the tournament, taking a set from reigning world champions Poland and followed it up with a five-set victory against Belgium on Friday. Their next match, however, ended in frustration as Portugal managed to come back from a two-set deficit against Ukraine on Sunday, but eventually fell in the tie-breaker.
With two more Pool A matches to play before the end of the group stage, the Portuguese know any point could help them moving forward to the elimination round.
Hugo Silva“We’ll enter the match against Serbia determined to fight until the last point. But odds are our situation won’t be decided until our last match, against Greece.”
Portugal’s Head Coach
Serbia is currently in a more comfortable position as the defending champions opened their title defense with victories against Belgium and Ukraine. A five-set loss to Poland on Saturday, though, was a warning sign for the Serbians.
The team coached by Slobodan Kovac will rely on its stars to secure victories against Portugal and Greece and some of them are in great form in the EuroVolley, including the MVP of the 2019 edition of the tournament, Uros Kovacevic, who’s currently the event’s top scorer with 62 points, opposite Aleksandar Atanasijevic, who ranks fourth in aces with six, and middle blocker Marko Podrascanin, fifth in blocks with nine.