Team Slovenia strongly motivated to write next chapter of their success story
News
The Slovenian men’s national team has started their preparations for the 2022 edition of the elite FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL). The new head coach Mark Lebedew gathered his players in Ljubljana, with the Slovenian capital city due to host the 2022 FIVB Men’s World Championship later this summer.
Slovenia has consistently been one of the best European teams in recent years and they impressed Volleyball fans once again last year when they claimed 4th place in their first VNL appearance and their third silver medal in the last four editions of CEV EuroVolley. That is why it is no surprise that the Slovenians have set high goals for the 2022 season too.
Mark Lebedew“We are all looking forward to the World Championship in Slovenia. Hosting the event is an ideal situation for us. The Volleyball Nations League is also very important, as every game counts for the world rankings. We need to coordinate the two competitions and our preparations as wisely as possible. We are lucky to have a really good team and many good players, so we will try to qualify for the VNL Finals but our priority is to have all players in the best possible shape ahead of the Worlds."
Head coach of Team Slovenia
The Australian Volleyball expert is excited to start working with many talented players. Among those, there are four newcomers – 21-year-old outside hitter Črtomir Bošnjak, 17-year-old opposite Nik Mujanovič, 25-year-old libero Alan Košenina and 18-year-old middle blocker Janž Janez Kržič. Kržič was very happy to find himself on Lebedew’s list: “When I received the call from the head coach, I was surprised and honoured to become a member of the national team. I will work hard, try to give my best and I intend to learn as much as I can from my idols.”
One of them is Mitja Gasparini, who announced his retirement from the national team after last year’s VNL tournament in Rimini and registering more than 200 caps with Team Slovenia. The 37-year-old, who is now back with his teammates, is highly motivated to write another chapter in his impressive career:
Mitja Gasparini“After years of combining club and national team seasons I was exhausted, and I could not see a way to help my team anymore. However, now the situation is different, the spark is back. I decided to return to the national team and aim for another great result together with the boys.”
Another experienced Slovenian player, Alen Pajenk is also looking forward to some new challenges: “We have a new staff, a lot of new players and a completely new story to write. It is nice to see that there are new generations coming up and players who can play at the highest level. We will help them fit into our team and get them to know our system, but most importantly, we will teach them how to win. The main objective this season will be the World Championship here in Slovenia, but we will also have to play the VNL at the highest possible level.”
Lebedew started the preparations with 13 players who will get the chance to prove themselves in the next weeks by playing some friendly matches, while others will have a bit more time to rest. “I think this is a good solution. Each player has had a different season, some have just finished competitions, others are still playing and it was not possible for all of them to start the preparations at the same time. Therefore, we are starting with a much younger team, our focus at the beginning will be on the individuals and we will gradually increase the workload,” Lebedew revealed a part of his plan.
Team Slovenia will do their preparations in Ljubljana, where they will also play their first two preparatory matches against their neighbours from Croatia on May 20 and 21. The preparation period includes friendly clashes with Serbia and Bulgaria as well ahead of the start of the VNL in Brasilia on June 7, 2022 where Slovenia will be playing against USA, Brazil, Australia, and China.