Press conference in Gdansk
“It is very nice to be here and to play a Volleyball tournament in a country like Poland” said Slovakia mentor Stefan Chrtiansky. “We hope that many fans will be coming to the sports hall not only for the matches of the home team. We have got some players who have been competing in the Polish national league and are well-known here, so hopefully the spectators will cheer on us too. This would help us achieve our goal which is to make it to the second round. We know this is a very tough task to stand but we have been working very hard to achieve this. We would like to confirm the fifth place we seized two years ago”.
“I am very happy to play with my national team here in Poland; that was a long time since we did it” said Slovakia team captain Michal Masny. “We have worked very hard in the lead up to the Championship and we want to perform our best here. We want to enjoy a great ambiance in the sports hall and with the help of the local fans I am sure that this tournament will turn into a real Volleyball show. We do hope to repeat the performance we achieved two years ago as Slovakia finished the European Championship in fifth place, their best result ever”.
“This place is simply the right venue for such high-profile tournament like the EuroVolley and everything is perfectly prepared. So I have to thank the local authorities here in Gdansk for their support” said Poland mentor Andrea Anastasi. “We are very excited and we can’t wait for the first game. I am happy with what we have done so far in our training sessions but we want to play and fight because this is what we like the most”.
“We will do our best to perform well here and delight our fans. Their support is quintessential to a good performance” added home captain Marcin Mozdzonek. “We did our job completing our preparations in Spala and we just can’t wait to start playing”.
With Turkey’s head coach and team captain Emanuele Zanini and Ulas Kiyak missing the press conference as their flight to Gdansk was delayed, France’s mentor Laurent Tillie was one of the last to take the floor. “There are only good teams here, well prepared physically as well as tactically. This means we will have a great tournament. I am very proud for being here, the city where the Solidarity movement got started and where Lech Walesa was born. Still time has come also to turn Gdansk into the place where Volleyball history will be written. The games with Turkey and Slovakia will be thrilling, so I hope that the fans will crowd the stands and won’t miss that opportunity”.
“I am also very happy for being here as we know that Poland is a real Volleyball country, well-known for the great atmosphere that the fans can contribute” added France setter and team captain Benjamin Toniutti. “However, we are not here for fun but for achieving good results. We are well prepared and though our first opponent, Slovakia, is very strong we feel ready to take on that match”.
For more information about this competition click on European Championship 2013 M.
