Slovenia looking forward to their third VNL appearance
News
The Slovenian men’s national team is ready for their third Volleyball Nations League (VNL) campaign. The team coached by Gheorghe Cretu will start their VNL journey on June 7 with a showdown against Serbia, followed by matches against Bulgaria, France, and Iran.
Slovenia, the reigning European vice-champions, started preparing for the season this past May 8 in Ljubljana, where the Romanian volleyball expert Cretu gathered his players. There are some changes to Slovenia’s roster after Mitja Gasparini concluded his astonishing national team career after the 2022 World Championship co-hosted by Poland and Slovenia, while Dejan Vinčić, Tonček Štern, Janž Janez Kržič, and Gregor Pernuš will be skipping the first part of the competition due to injuries. Jan Klobučar is out of the roster after suffering a knee injury too. One of the youngsters, Nik Mujanovič will join the team after the tournament in Japan where 19-year-old Rok Bračko will present himself for the first time wearing the shirt of the senior national team. Outside hitter Matej K¬ök who played for Slovenia for the last time in 2018 and libero Urban Toman whose last national team appearance came in 2019, are back in the team.
Cretu is aware that the Slovenian team is not the only one to have undergone many changes: “Although all teams need to deal with some difficulties, especially with injuries and tiredness of some of the key players after an intense club season, all of them are aware of the importance of every match, every set, and even every point in this competition and for the world rankings. There is not an easy opponent in the VNL. We expect a difficult match against Serbia already at the start of the VNL, there is a young but prosperous Bulgaria, Iran is always difficult to deal with, and there is France with some changes in their line-up but for sure with a huge motivation coming from their youngsters. We have arrived in Japan with a slightly changed team as well. But there are three quite successful weeks of preparation behind us. We will try to focus on our performances and enter the competition in the best possible way. We know what our goal is, and we will do everything possible to achieve it.”
Tine Urnaut“We know the importance of each match. We will focus on each opponent separately and try not to think about anything else. We will fight for every point and hope for the best possible outcome. We are aware of the importance of competing in the VNL.”
Captain of Team Slovenia
Slovenia first presented themselves in the VNL in 2021 in Rimini and claimed fourth place, whilst the team failed to qualify for the VNL Finals in the 2022 edition.
Team Slovenia: Gregor Ropret, Uroš Planinšič, Alen Pajenk, Jan Kozamernik, Danijel Koncilja, Sašo Štalekar, Tine Urnaut, Klemen Čebulj, Rok Možič, Matej Kök, Žiga Štern, Rok Bračko, Jani Kovačič, Urban Toman. Head coach: Gheorghe Cretu.