August 23, 2019 - The Croatia women's volleyball team opens its appearance at the European Championships in Budapest at 3 pm on Friday.
In the first game, Italian expert Daniele Santarelli will lead Croatia against Azerbaijan, reports HRT.
“At the beginning, we started with little difficulty, however, with a little practice, the whole team has improved significantly, and I am delighted with the result of the first part of the summer. I am extremely proud, because in a short period we corrected a lot of mistakes, which were present at the beginning of our game. By playing in the Golden League, we were able to achieve very high and extremely good results, and this experience was essential for the whole team. After a short break in July, we started with small changes and well-established players,” said the 38-year-old Italian on the Croatia bench, and concluded that he was delighted with the work and progress of our national team players.
“We just finished the Gloria Cup, where we played three important matches, and it was great preparation for what awaited us. The first match at the European Championships in Budapest is against Azerbaijan, which is certainly not going to be easy, because the team is very strong and we have to show our best game. If we play the first difficult game, we will feel the strength and level of this competition, which is important for later matches. Although each match will be difficult, we hope for our best game and result,” he added.
Croatia plays in Group C of the competition, and alongside Azerbaijan, Croatia will face Estonia (August 24), the Netherlands (August 26), Romania (August 27) and Hungary (August 28). The top four teams will secure a spot in the Round of 16, to be played in Turkey and Poland. Group C intersects with Group A, which includes Serbia, Turkey, Bulgaria, France, Greece, and Finland.
In addition to Hungary, the hosts of the European Championships are Turkey (Ankara), Poland (Lodz) and Slovakia (Bratislava).
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