Aleksandar Atanasijević
Serbia’s Aleksandar Atanasijević scored 29 points to pace his side:
“We knew that today’s match would be really difficult and once again we showed a really big heart. We had our chances in the second set but we started to make some stupid mistakes and I made some untypical mistakes on the attack and we were not in the right place. The third set was the highlight of today’s match. They played really good and we did not serve well. They had their chances but in the end we showed that we never give up until the last ball and this win is very important to us because our goal before the competition was to get to the semi-final. I am happy for these guys because this is a new team and no one expected that we would reach the semi-final in the first big competition and now we are without any pressure. We lost 3-2 in the World League against Russia but we will get our chance and we must use this chance, otherwise they will kill us”.
Belgium team captain Frank Depestele said:
“Of course I am disappointed. We had hoped to get to Copenhagen. But we are not really where we shall be tonight. The tension and rhythm were simply not there. The first set was tight, and even though we won the second set, we still were missing that last sparkle. Then we had five set balls in the third set, and after missing out on this opportunity, we totally lost our mood in the last set. We are not all disappointed as this will qualify us for the 2015 European Championship. Congratulations to Serbia, they are a great team and will for sure have a chance to defend their title in Parken”.
To read more news from this competition click on European Championship 2013 M.
