Balance in the Silver #EuroLeagueM
Recap
The game between Israel and Cyprus was the opening game for the tournament held in Slagelse, Denmark. Cyprus were clearly motivated to end the game in three sets and played strong from start to finish in the third set ending the game with 17-25.
Game top scorer #17 Nikolaos Eleftheriou from team Cyprus (17 points), who also had a strong serving series in the end of the third set with two aces. Best player from team Israel was #18 Genadi Sokolov with 9 points.
Jorge Federico Cannestracci“We played a very balanced and intelligent match, using not only our power play but also making smart solutions. In the previous games we made a lot of mistakes, also because we have had no test games prior to this tournament, but today we kept the mistakes to a minimum, and managed to read the situations in the game very well. Israel is a good team, so we are of course happy to win this game.”
Head Coach Cyprus
Before the game started, captain from team Denmark, #8 Axel Jacobsen, was celebrated for playing his game number 200 for the Danish national team (the actual game 200 was the Israel-Denmark game in North Macedonia).
Eager to retaliate from their previous loss to Denmark, North Macedonia started the game with an impressive serve pressure and well-adjusted blocks, leaving Denmark little chance to score points. Even though team Denmark found a better rhythm during the set, North Macedonia’s head start was too difficult to reach and they closed the set 23-25.
In the second set, North Macedonia maintained a high serve pressure on Denmark, who struggled with finding the right solutions in attack. On team North Macedonia’s side, outside hitter #8 Aleksandar Ljaftov was almost unstoppable, securing 12 points for his team in the second set alone. In the third set, North Macedonia kept their winning course, and finished the set 21-25.
Nikola Matijasevic“It was a very important game for us, as we wanted a revenge from our defeat on our home court. Our players were really excited to play the game and fought really well. Today we dominated the reception and had a much more effective block that also put a stop to Denmark’s number #21 Mads Kyed Jensen, who scored a lot of points in our previous match. I am really satisfied with the team’s effort today".
Head Coach North Macedonia
The clash at the top of Pool B made Croatia prevail over Hungary.
An almost balanced match during which Croatia managed to finalize and win the key points to close sets and match in their favour.