Volleyball
Volleyball legend Pausescu pleased with Romania’s comeback to EuroVolley
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Article Thu, Mar 14 2019
Bucharest, Romania, March 14, 2019. After a 24-year break, the Romanian men’s national team have qualified for the final stage of EuroVolley. Their last participation came in 1995 in Patras, Greece. Back then, the coach of the Romanian national team was Marian Pausescu, who has taken some time to analyse the prolonged absence of Romanian Volleyball from the European scene and comments on the Drawing of Lots held in Brussels back in January, which placed Romania in a tough group.
For Romanian Volleyball, Marian Pausescu was an important, valuable player. He won with Dinamo as many as 12 national championships. In 1979, at European level, he won with the same team the CEV Cup, in the final tournament held in Roeselare, Belgium, where the Romanians won all of their matches without losing a single set. In 1982, Pausescu helped Dinamo claim the European Champions Cup, when the Romanians edged the main favourites, CSKA Moscow and won the trophy. Pausescu played for the national team of Romania in more than 300 international matches.
As a coach, Marian Pausescu was at the helm of Dinamo for over 16 years, and between 1994 and 1995, he was the main coach of the national team as well, when Romania qualified for the final stage of the European Championship as the winners of a pool including France, Turkey and Slovenia.
The Romanian legend recalls that the problems immediately occurred. “The leading players announced they would come very late for the training, just one week before the start of the competition. Many of them were playing in other countries and I could not persuade them to come in time. Then, together with the Federation’s Executive Committee, I made a decision that I now regret. We excluded all those with whom we got the qualification and turned to those of the youth team, very talented but still too young for such a competition. Now I reproach myself that I was not more of a diplomat. I should have had more discussions and maybe found a better solution. As a result, we lost all the matches in Patras,” he says.
Were you thinking back then that Romania would not reach the final round for the next 24 years?
No, I could not imagine that, since Romanian Volleyball seemed to have enough resources, but unfortunately, it was not like that, and on the contrary, things went into an unwanted direction.
How do you explain this prolonged absence?
Producing quality players has been diminishing. Even if all this time, there were players with potential, we have never been able to build a truly competitive team. We talk about 4-5 generations that have passed on to the national team; meanwhile, Volleyball has grown enormously, many countries have progressed fantastically, but we, unfortunately, have not found our way.
Now the Romanian national team has qualified, the double victory with Finland was decisive, what do you think of the current team?
As never before, a perfect combination of great players has fallen into place: Laurentiu Lica, Cristian Bartha and the younger ones like Adrian Aciobanitei, Rares Balean, or Marian Bala. In addition to that, the team showed an extraordinary power to fight in the matches with the strong national team of Finland, and those two wins secured our ticket to EuroVolley. I want to highlight the victory on the road in Helsinki where we really presented ourselves as a promising team.
What can you tell us about the Montpellier group?
It is a very hard group. At first sight, we have little chance of qualification for the knockout phase, but if the Romanians are able to be consistent, there is a chance to form a group that is hard to beat. In addition, it will be a huge image win for our Volleyball; we will play against France, the host country, in the opening match, with a full house. As for Italy and Bulgaria, teams of great value, we do not get the chance to meet them often but within these competitions, so I am convinced that we will fight for each point. This type of attitude could only lead to good things. With Greece and Portugal, we will fight for qualification to the next stage, since we are closer to their value.
What would you like to say to our players?
To begin with, I wish them to be healthy and to have a well-thought-out training programme. In such a competition, you have a clear image of your value, your limits. I think this team can make a great tournament and even if all the teams are ahead of us in the European ranking, on the ground things can look good for us. I wish them good luck and I hope they qualify for the next phase of the competition.
Even if he is now retired, Marian Pausescu cannot stay away from Volleyball, the interview with him held at the women’s national championship match between C.S.M. BUCURESTI and CSM TARGOVISTE. His son, Vlad, is a scouter for the team from the Romanian capital. The passion for this sport goes from one generation to the next, and we shall find Marian Pausescu at each match of the domestic league. As for the European Championship, Marian has been already preparing his place in front of the TV, where he will keep his fingers crossed for the most competitive Volleyball team that Romania has produced in recent years.
For Romanian Volleyball, Marian Pausescu was an important, valuable player. He won with Dinamo as many as 12 national championships. In 1979, at European level, he won with the same team the CEV Cup, in the final tournament held in Roeselare, Belgium, where the Romanians won all of their matches without losing a single set. In 1982, Pausescu helped Dinamo claim the European Champions Cup, when the Romanians edged the main favourites, CSKA Moscow and won the trophy. Pausescu played for the national team of Romania in more than 300 international matches.
As a coach, Marian Pausescu was at the helm of Dinamo for over 16 years, and between 1994 and 1995, he was the main coach of the national team as well, when Romania qualified for the final stage of the European Championship as the winners of a pool including France, Turkey and Slovenia.
The Romanian legend recalls that the problems immediately occurred. “The leading players announced they would come very late for the training, just one week before the start of the competition. Many of them were playing in other countries and I could not persuade them to come in time. Then, together with the Federation’s Executive Committee, I made a decision that I now regret. We excluded all those with whom we got the qualification and turned to those of the youth team, very talented but still too young for such a competition. Now I reproach myself that I was not more of a diplomat. I should have had more discussions and maybe found a better solution. As a result, we lost all the matches in Patras,” he says.
Were you thinking back then that Romania would not reach the final round for the next 24 years?
No, I could not imagine that, since Romanian Volleyball seemed to have enough resources, but unfortunately, it was not like that, and on the contrary, things went into an unwanted direction.
How do you explain this prolonged absence?
Producing quality players has been diminishing. Even if all this time, there were players with potential, we have never been able to build a truly competitive team. We talk about 4-5 generations that have passed on to the national team; meanwhile, Volleyball has grown enormously, many countries have progressed fantastically, but we, unfortunately, have not found our way.
Now the Romanian national team has qualified, the double victory with Finland was decisive, what do you think of the current team?
As never before, a perfect combination of great players has fallen into place: Laurentiu Lica, Cristian Bartha and the younger ones like Adrian Aciobanitei, Rares Balean, or Marian Bala. In addition to that, the team showed an extraordinary power to fight in the matches with the strong national team of Finland, and those two wins secured our ticket to EuroVolley. I want to highlight the victory on the road in Helsinki where we really presented ourselves as a promising team.
What can you tell us about the Montpellier group?
It is a very hard group. At first sight, we have little chance of qualification for the knockout phase, but if the Romanians are able to be consistent, there is a chance to form a group that is hard to beat. In addition, it will be a huge image win for our Volleyball; we will play against France, the host country, in the opening match, with a full house. As for Italy and Bulgaria, teams of great value, we do not get the chance to meet them often but within these competitions, so I am convinced that we will fight for each point. This type of attitude could only lead to good things. With Greece and Portugal, we will fight for qualification to the next stage, since we are closer to their value.
What would you like to say to our players?
To begin with, I wish them to be healthy and to have a well-thought-out training programme. In such a competition, you have a clear image of your value, your limits. I think this team can make a great tournament and even if all the teams are ahead of us in the European ranking, on the ground things can look good for us. I wish them good luck and I hope they qualify for the next phase of the competition.
Even if he is now retired, Marian Pausescu cannot stay away from Volleyball, the interview with him held at the women’s national championship match between C.S.M. BUCURESTI and CSM TARGOVISTE. His son, Vlad, is a scouter for the team from the Romanian capital. The passion for this sport goes from one generation to the next, and we shall find Marian Pausescu at each match of the domestic league. As for the European Championship, Marian has been already preparing his place in front of the TV, where he will keep his fingers crossed for the most competitive Volleyball team that Romania has produced in recent years.