Important wins for Estonia and Croatia in the third leg of the #EuroLeagueM
Recap
On Wednesday the national teams of Estonia and Belgium met in the match of Pool C in the #EuroLeagueM.
It was the match where Estonia had a small advantage given the fact that they are last year's bronze medalist and they are playing the League round at home field in front of an amazing crowd. On the other hand, the national team of Belgium finished fourth last year so it wasn’t an easy battle. After a crazy battle, it was Estonia who took a 3-1 win over Belgium with 29-27, 31-29, 22-25, 25-13.
The team of Estonia started off with a 2-1 advantage, but it seemed as if Belgium found a recipe for winning this set. Throughout the whole first set, the Red Dragons were in the lead, they even got to a five-point advantage (10-15). Head coach of Estonia, Fabio Soli, asked for a time-out which definitely worked out. Soon Estonia got super close to Belgium (14-16 and then 19-20). Both teams were completely in the game and were ready to take the win in the first set. In the end, it was Estonia who turned the set completely and won it with 29-27.
The winning mentality of Estonia transferred to the second set. They got into the set so much better than into the first one. They got in the five-point lead (10-5) but soon lost the advantage (11-10). They managed to get back up (15-12 and 20-17) but Estonians then stopped scoring. They didn’t have the idea in the attack or how to stop the Red Dragons who were also seeking a solution as to how to win that set. Belgians got in the first lead in this set (21-22) and it seemed as if they will completely turn this set around and take an important win. But, that didn’t happen and Estonians, once again, showed that they are last year’s bronze medalists with a reason when they’ve won the set with 31-29.
In the third set, Estonians continued with their positiveness and were in the lead. Belgians needed to find a way to break them down which they managed to do. On 20-20, it was an equal game and Estonians were super close to winning a match and Belgians to winning the first set. In the end, the set went to Red Dragons (22-25) who showed huge competitiveness and fightness on the court.
The fourth set showed that all the strength is left for the Estonians but not for the Belgian team. The national team of Estonia separated from Red Dragons at 10-6 and then later on at 20-12. It was visible to who it is going to go this set and this match. Belgians were already broken down and out of energy and they couldn’t respond to Estonian attacks and smashes. In the end, Estonians won the fourth set with 25-13 and with that the whole match.
The third leg of this competition is now completed and first in the Pool B is the Czech Republic with nine points, in the second place is Estonia with five points, in third Belgium with three points and in fourth and in last place is Latvia with one point.
On the same day, the national teams of Croatia and Spain met in the match of Pool B. Croatians were clear favorites in this match which they justified with a 3:1 win (25-14, 25-18, 14-25, 25-20).
The first set began in the favor of Croatians with 10-2 and the head coach of Spain, Miguel Rivera, was forced to call an early time-out. The game of Spaniards didn’t improve much afterward and they had a lot of errors in their plays (nine of them in the first set). Croatians quickly escaped to 21-12 and were only a matter of time before they take a first win in the set. They ended it with 25-14 and with eight winning spikes.
In the second set, the game got equal on both sides and was almost played point-by-point. But Spaniards still had a problem of breaking down Croatians with their blocks. In the end they got to 21-14 and it was hard to get back up. Croatians took the second set as well with 25-18.
But then the national team of Spain decided to take control and the first set happened again but on different sides. Croatians couldn’t find any solutions as to how to break down the Spanish team. It was already 1-5 and the new head coach of Croatia, Cédric Énard, called for a time-out, but it didn’t do much. The score only got worse for the home team and coach Énard was forced to call for another time-out at 3-10. Croatians lost their game and it was the Spaniards' time to take over. They only kept scoring and scoring and soon got to the score of 5-15 and later on 12-22. The set was taken over by the Spanish team with 14-25 and they were still in the game for winning the match.
The fourth set was a deciding one where both teams showed why they are in the Golden League. Even though the Spaniards are considered underdogs in this Pool, they showed how they can fight against a team such as Croatia, which is on the rise. The last set was played point-by-point up until 11-11. After that Spaniards lost control a little bit and stopped scoring. They tried to find new solutions but it just didn't work out. In the end, Croatia scored a 25-20 win and with that won the whole match.
In Pool B situation is as follows: Ukraine is first with 12 points, Croatia is second with six points, Spain is third with two points and Denmark is fourth and last with one point.