PGE Skra fans
Both teams will meet in Lodz for the first time since Dinamo MOSCOW beat PGE Skra in the semis of the 2010 edition. “The venue and the atmosphere will be the same, but the teams are different now. However, this match may be crucial in the fight for qualifying to the Playoffs 12” states PGE Skra President Konrad Piechocki.
Yuri Cherednik, Dinamo MOSCOW coach, shares the same opinion: “It is a very important game. We are good prepared for this clash. We flew directly to Lodz with the charter, which made the trip much more comfortable. We are coming directly after a series of good performances in the national cup, where we have just qualified to the Final Six. We hope to win here, but we realize the difficult task we have ahead”. Bartosz Kurek, the former star of PGE Skra, who moved to Moscow this summer, has also joined his new colleagues on the trip to Lodz. “He is very excited about the possibility of playing in front of his Polish fans; however he is not fully fit after a long injury. I brought 13 players and I will decide at the very last moment which ones will be in the line-up” said Cherednik.
“It is one of the most important matches of the first phase of the season. If you want to progress from a group like that you must not lose points on your own ground” stated Jacek Nawrocki, PGE Skra coach. “We will face one of the best teams in the world. Even without Kurek and Semen Poltavskiy they are dangerous. They have a tremendous depth in the squad. Even young players, who are not very well known, would be the absolute stars in most of the best teams in Europe. That is why we must concentrate on ourselves, do our best and wait for the outcome” Nawrocki added.
PGE Skra fought recently back in the Polish Plusliga after 3 defeats in a row and hopes to improve the mood after another good match in the CEV Volleyball Champions League. Both teams are not in a good position in their respective leagues (both have suffered 3 defeats), but they are doing very well on the international arena. There is no doubt, that voting PGE Skra – Dinamo MOSCOW as “The match of the week” was a good choice.
“It is always very tight between us and the Russians, these battles have their own history. The adrenaline is higher than usually – it has always been like that, since we started to compete at the junior level. Recently, we started to win more often, however we remember that Poland lost to Russia at the Olympic Games, and we had lost to Zenit KAZAN in the Champions League final this past March. It will be a great match. You just cannot wait for such games. That is what you are training for” said PGE Skra captain Mariusz Wlazly.
The match will be watched by over 12’000 fans. There is no doubt it is the match to be for the Polish supporters.
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