Gheorghe Cretu to lead Slovenia towards Paris 2024
News
The Volleyball Federation of Slovenia (OZS) has announced that Gheorghe Cretu has prolonged his contract and will continue to work as head coach of the Slovenian men’s national team - which he will lead towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Cretu has been coaching internationally for more than 20 years and he claimed the CEV Volleyball European League title in 2016 and 2018 with Team Estonia, while his most notable achievement came last year when securing the CEV Champions League Volley crown with Polish club Grupa Azoty KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE.
The 54-year-old Romanian expert took over the Slovenian team a little more than two weeks ahead of the FIVB World Championship held last year in Poland and Slovenia and took it all the way to a historic fourth place. At first, it seemed that the European Coach of the Year 2022 and the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia would not find a common language to extend the contract, but to the satisfaction of all parties, Cretu will remain at the helm of the reigning European vice-champions until the end of 2024.
Metod Ropret“I am very satisfied that we will continue this journey together. I really feel that we belong together. We have found a common language - I am sure to everyone’s satisfaction. Expectations for this season are high, there are three important competitions ahead of us with the Olympic qualification tournament in Japan as the most important of them. This generation of players has a great opportunity to fulfil their goal and we need to support them in any way possible.”
President of the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia
Cretu who received the European Coach of the Year award in 2022 is excited to work again with his team that he will gather on May 8 in Ljubljana.
Gheorghe Cretu“Slovenia has high-quality players who, at the same time, are very connected to each other, which is of great importance for any national team. It is a generation that has a lot of experience. The basic goal of the season is to keep players in shape, both physically and psychologically, throughout five extremely intense months. Every point, every set and every win will matter and could bring us a step further towards Paris."
Head coach of Team Slovenia
"The motivation is certainly not in question, because this generation has been dreaming of the Olympic Games for years. I too dream of it, and I am extremely happy that I got this opportunity. I am sure that all of us who are involved in this project in any way will do our best so that Slovenia will play at the Olympics.”
Slovenia’s roster for the 2023 season will be announced within a few weeks.
