Belgium looking to continue success at 2011 CEV Volleyball League
As the CEV Men’s Volleyball European League restarts after a pause of four days, Belgium is scheduled to take on Croatia today, June 18. The two sides clashed last week in the first of two matches, as Belgium finished on top.
The head coach of Belgium’s National Volleyball Team, Claudio Gewehr, expressed his delight at the outcome of last weekend’s match against Croatia in post-game interviews. The coach was happy to see his squad hang on to the second position in the rankings
after coming face to face with a tough team. Croatia had been featured as the host but the home support did not give them the needed advantage against the Belgians.
This week, Belgium will once again take on the Croatians but this time, the Croatian team will travel to Belgium. Gewehr’s squad is pretty confident about the upcoming matches and the Belgian coach is optimistic about his side’s performance. Gewehr stated,
“We hope to perform well also for the next couple of games we’ll have with Croatia here in Antwerp at the Lotto Arena. These are actually the last matches we play this year in front of our fans and we want to show that we have been gradually improving after
we got together some 4 weeks ago.”
On the other hand, the Croatian team is preparing for revenge and they are all set to cover the deficit. In the first match between the two countries, which was played in the league round of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European League, Croatia put up strong
opposition. The effort was lost because they lost by a narrow margin. Losing to Belgium in front of the home crowd was probably not a pleasant experience and the Croatians will be searching for a different approach this time around to beat their opponents.
Speaking of the potential of the Croatian team, Gewehr said that the Croatian squad had an element of unpredictability, which is always a risk. He added that sometimes they lack consistency but overall the team has a lot of potential. The coach continued
and said that the Croatians are physically strong and also quite efficient. The Belgian coach is working on a plan to dismantle their power in the opening rounds by using powerful serves.
Belgium has a good chance of holding off Croatia for and getting a start in the second leg of the tournament. It they capture both matches against Croatia it will be pretty easy for them to get hold of the second position in Pool A of 2011 CEV Volleyball
European League.
The clock is ticking as both teams are preparing to meet each other in centre court. Check back for details on who won the match soon.
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