Four teams in race for two eighthfinal vacancies in Varna
Preview
After Slovenia and Croatia reserved two of the four tickets from Pool B to the eighthfinals of the men’s CEV EuroVolley 2023, all four of the other teams competing at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna are still in the race for the remaining two vacancies, with two competition days remaining. On Monday, Ukraine will take on Finland at 17:30 local time. Then, at 20:30, the already qualified Slovenia and Croatia will take a few swings at each other in a battle for the top of the pool standings, before all questions are answered on Tuesday…
Ukraine entered the championship as one of the favorites in Pool B, but surprisingly, after three matches played, it is the only team in the pool without a win. Still, having lost to Slovenia, Croatia and Bulgaria, the Ukrainians can still push through to the eighthfinals, if they take the six points from the remaining games against Finland and Spain.
Finland is just above Ukraine in the standings, fifth on a 1-3 win-loss record. It started well, shutting out Croatia, but then lost three in a row – to Bulgaria, Slovenia and Spain. Should they lose their last pool match to the Ukrainians on Monday, the northerners will be out of contention, so it will be a game of survival for both opponents.
Ukraine has won both previous encounters with Finland at the European Championships, in 1993 and 1997. It also won the two matches against Finland in the 2019 CEV European Golden League. Suomi, however, has won the remaining five meetings with Ukraine, most recently in a 2014 FIVB World Championship qualifier.
Illia Kovalov“We have to win our next two games by 3-0 and maybe we will be in the next round.”
Outside hitter of Ukraine
Joel Banks“There are a lot of things to throw away from the last match with Spain, but also a lot of things that we did well. So against Ukraine, we should go full speed again, because everything is still possible within our group, which is perhaps one of the two most competitive pools of the championship.”
Head coach of Finland
Croatia has already done probably more than it has dreamed of ahead of EuroVolley. After a bad start, a straight-set loss to Finland, it got on the winning track downing Ukraine in five sets, Spain in three and host Bulgaria in four. With a guaranteed spot among the best 16 of the tournament, Croatia will now aim at placing as high as possible in the Pool B final standings, hoping for an easier eighthfinal opponent, as it meets neighbor Slovenia in its last game of the first stage.
After victories over Ukraine, Finland and Spain, Slovenia was the first to secure advancement to the next round and it remained the only unbeaten team in the pool, with two games to go. As the big favorite to win the pool, the team needs to keep winning in order to live up to the expectations and finish on top of the final standings.
Croatia and Slovenia have played each other many times since the two neighboring countries gained independence in the 1990s. Slovenia is currently on a six-game winning streak in the head-to-head series. The most recent encounter was in a EuroVolley 2021 eighthfinal, when Slovenia progressed after a four-set victory. The last time Croatia beat Slovenia was also in four sets, in a 2011 European League game.
Bernard Bakonji“We are in the next round and now we will play relaxed. Slovenia is the favorite, but Bulgaria was also the favorite against us and we beat then. I think we can do it again and I hope we will win.”
Setter of Croatia
Jani Kovacic“We expect to remain victorious against Croatia as well. However, we should push hard from the very start and show them that every ball matters to us. Indeed, we are the favorites on paper, but we have to prove that on the court as well.”
Libero of Slovenia