Joao Jose calls up 17 players ahead of Portugal’s Golden League campaign
News
The coaching staff of the men’s national team of Portugal around former international star Joao Jose has called up 17 athletes for the preparation stage ahead of the European Golden League 2023, a competition played by some of the top European teams, and whose eventual winners and runners-up will be in contention for a spot in the next edition of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) via the FIVB Challenger Cup.
The camp will start on May 10 at the Pavilhao de Santa Maria Maior, in Viana do Castelo. In the Golden League 2023, Portugal will be playing Türkiye (winners in 2019 and 2021 and silver medal winners in 2022) and Denmark, as well as Romania, winners of the European Silver League last year.
In 2022, Team Portugal finished Pool A action in second place behind Türkiye and ahead of Slovakia. Portugal competed for the first and only time in the VNL in 2019, after having managed to win the 2018 Volleyball Challenger Cup in Matosinhos. As in 2020, 2021, and 2022, this year Team Portugal will contest the European Golden League, trying to repeat the feat of 2018, when they reached the Final Four.
Asked about the opponents in the group stage of the 2023 edition, coach Joao Jose said:
“It is a very competitive group, and we will face Türkiye again, which we can regard as one of the event favourites. Romania and Denmark are two ambitious teams on the rise, and we cannot forget that the Romanians were Silver League winners last year.”
The roster includes the following players:
Setters: José Neves (AJ Fonte do Bastardo), Bruno Dias (Esmoriz GC), Miguel Tavares Rodrigues (Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie/POL)
Outside hitters: Rafael Santos (Esmoriz GC), André Pereira (Leixoes SC), Nuno Marques (VC Viana), Miguel Cunha (Vitória SC), Lourenço Martins (Saint-Nazaire VB/FRA), Alexandre Ferreira (Fenerbahce HDI Sigorta Istanbul/TUR)
Opposite hitters: Jose Pinto (Esmoriz GC), Bruno Cunha (Vitória SC)
Middle blockers: José Pedro Andrade (Esmoriz GC), Jose Belo, Miguel Sinfronio (Leixoes SC), Filip Cveticanin (SCM Zalau/ROU)
Liberos: Gonçalo Sousa (Esmoriz GC), Ivo Casas (SL Benfica).
Action in the Golden League starts on May 27 and runs until June 25. The top ranked side from each pool and the organisers qualify for the Final Four, which will be played in Croatia on June 24-25, 2023. If Croatia finish first in their pool, the 2nd best ranked team across all pools will qualify for the Final Four as well.
The top two teams from the Golden League Final Four will compete in the FIVB Challenger Cup, where they will meet the winners of the continental competitions played under the aegis of NORCECA (North and Central America), AVC (Asia), and the winner of a play-off between the winners of the CSV (South America) and the CAVB (Africa) competitions, as well as the organisers of the event – for a total of six participating teams. The winners of the 2023 FIVB Challenger Cup will qualify for the 2024 Volleyball Nations League.