Golden League an opportunity to grow even further for Team Portugal
News
Team Portugal claimed six wins in as many matches in the recently contested EuroVolleyM qualifiers to secure their spot in the Final Round of the competition – the only team to achieve this feat with an immaculate record together with Bulgaria. Their season continues now with the European Golden League, where they play defending champions Turkey, Belarus and Czech Republic in the pool stage of the competition. Portugal recently beat Belarus twice (3-2 and 3-1) in the EuroVolley qualifiers.
Hugo Silva“We are in the most difficult pool in this Golden League, because our opponents either won or made it to the finals of the last editions of the competition. This makes you understand right away the sort of challenges that we are going to face, but I believe that the opponents will think the same, because they will be playing the only team with a perfect record from the EuroVolley qualifiers, alongside Bulgaria."
Head coach of Team Portugal
“In the absence of a number of players [Hugo Gaspar and André Lopes will not compete in the Golden League and Alexandre Ferreira will only return for the second Pool C tournament, in Santo Tirso], we will provide an opportunity to those who did play the least in the qualifiers. I hope everyone gets the most out of playing an international competition at the highest level. The qualification for the European Championship is already a thing of the past and we must continue with a strong desire to evolve and grow our game, as well as try to reveal the skills and potential of more and more players,” Silva continues.
One of those players is André Marques, who stood out in the EuroVolley qualifiers. The 189 cm tall player may look too short for top international Volleyball, but only theoretically, because, in practice, his drive and fearlessness when facing very tall blocks have proven very important to the national team. The young outside hitter of Castêlo da Maia GC, only 20 years old, played the last EuroVolley qualifying match against Hungary, delivering as many as nine points, including a block and an ace.
André Marques“I have always been a member of the younger teams and this experience has helped me a lot to reach the level I am at. I never stopped believing that one day I would make it to the senior team as well, because that was my dream. That dream made me continue to work every day so that one day, that moment would come. I am very happy that that day has arrived and even happier for having contributed to the historic second straight EuroVolley qualification. I could not have asked for a better debut.”
Player of Team Portugal
“It is true that there is some age discrepancy, but I think that is why we work so well as a team. The older ones help the younger ones with their experience and wisdom and the younger ones bring the motivation and the desire to evolve and learn so that they can become better players. This evolution will continue in the European Golden League, a competition that will be very difficult but very good for us: it will help us consolidate our game system and will be a good preparation for EuroVolley,” Marques adds.
Portugal’s last appearance in the Golden League goes back to the 2018 edition. In that year, Portugal qualified for the Final Four, together with Turkey, with whom they had an interesting duel in the semi-finals (they lost it 2-3). Later that summer, Portugal would beat the Czech Republic (3-1) in the final of the FIVB Challenger Cup in Matosinhos, thus qualifying for the 2019 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.