The Dutch National Team broke Turkey’s invincibility at the 2021 CEV Men’s Volleyball European Championship.
The Netherlands achieved a 3-1 (22-25, 27-25, 27-25, 25-23) victory over Turkey (3-0 prior to the game) in the Pool C’s derby of the CEV Men’s EuroVolley 2021 in Tampere, Finland. Duels between ‘Oranje’ and Turkey have often been long and exciting in recent years and today’s game was no exception. The team commanded by Roberto Piazza made an amazing turnaround in the fourth set after it trailed 6-12, thus avoiding playing the tie-break. The Netherlands triumphed mostly thanks to Nimir Abdel-Aziz, who put down 34 points, including four aces. Fabian Plak had a 77 % attack (10/13). Baturalp Burak Güngör (four aces) and Adis Lagumdžija scored 20 points apiece on the losing side. Vahit Emre Savaş made 77 % attack (10/13). Both teams secured a place in the playoffs, but now the Dutch side has more chances of topping the pool charts (both are at 3-1) with one point more than Turkey (10-9).
The French team won its third EuroVolley 2021 match in Pool D in Tallinn, Finland, defeating Germany in the big match 3-1 (31-29, 15-25, 25-22, 25-22). ‘Les Bleus’ thus got an upper hand in their aspirations to finish as the pool leaders. Just like its rival, Germany set off its campaign with 2-0. Surprisingly, its head coach Andrea Giani confronted the Olympic champion with the lineup consisted entirely of backups. The trio of his main attacking weapons – Fromm, Kaliberda, and Grozer – did not play a single minute. The last one, the main star of the team, was even registered as a libero for the game! The players coached by Bernardo Rezende were carried by Earvin Ngapeth, who finished the match with 21 points. Théo Faure served four aces, while Nicolas Le Goff made four blocks. Linus Weber tallied 27 points for Germany. He and Moritz Karlitzek served four aces apiece.
