Pool C Preview: Is Russia the Favourite ?!

Russia, one of the biggest contenders for the CEV Eurovolley 2021 title, is presumably the favorite for the top spot in Pool C, which will be held in Tampere, Finland. Russia, including the Soviet Union, has won the title 14 times before and has a quite successful winning ratio against their opponents in the group: they have won 23 of the 27 matches they have played so far in the European Championship.

At the beginning of this month, Russia claimed the silver medal after losing to France in the breathtaking final match of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games, and three names in the squad were selected for the Dream Team of the tournament: The best opposite Maxim Mikhaylov, who unfortunately has been confirmed to be out of EuroVolley, the best outside hitter Egor Kliuka, and the best middle blocker Ivan Iakovlev.

While Russia is the clear favorite, all five teams are ambitious to get the remaining three spots. However, three teams stand out a little more with their performances and rosters: the Netherlands, Finland, and Turkey. Among these teams, the Netherlands had managed to reach the podium a total of five times before, including the gold in 1997. Although a medal is a bit of a distant prospect for the ‘Oranjes’ for now, led by the huge star Nimir Abdel-Aziz, the top scorer of the 2021 FIVB Nations League with a total of 264 points, they gained a good pre-EuroVolley experience with the matches played in the VNL with the best teams in the world and showed everyone their strength.

Finland, hosting EuroVolley for the third time, will be able to repeat the results they achieved in the 2019 edition if they can make good use of both the support of their fans and the experienced names in the squad: They managed to advance to the Round of 16 by defeating North Macedonia 3-1 and then Turkey in a five-set thriller in the group stage at the last European Championship. Experienced setter Eemi Tervaportti and his friends need to win these games and repeat their 2013 win against the Netherlands in order to get a better result than 14th place which they got two years ago.

However, Turkey is determined to take the rematch of this five-set match. Coming to the tournament with the title of Champions of the 2021 CEV European Golden League, Turkey is aiming for a higher rank this time than their best result in the EuroVolley -the 11th place. The performance of young opposite Adis Lagumdzija, the third top scorer in the Italian League this season, will be the key for Turkey. Turkey also managed to beat the Netherlands in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2019. The results of these three matches will not only mean qualifying from the group for Turkey but also matching an easier opponent and making it through the quarter-finals.

Even though they are a little off from their old days, Spain, which won the European Championship in 2007 by defeating Russia in the final, will try to seize the opportunities they have by putting their all effort into the European Championship, which they will participate for the three in a row and 11 in total. Spain, who succeeded in qualifying from the group in fourth place at the 2019 EuroVolley, also competed in the 2021 CEV European Golden League and placed seventh.

North Macedonia, which has had the least EuroVolley experience in this group, will compete in this arena for the second time. Making their debut in 2019, when they faced three of their group opponents (Finland, Turkey, and Russia), North Macedonia lost all of these matches. However, even though they were not able to qualify for the Round of 16, they showed themselves to all the Europe. Lastly, they won a silver medal in the 2021 CEV European Silver League after losing to Denmark in the final. Nikola Gjorgiev shone with 161 points and he also became the “Top Scorer” of the tournament.