Germany ahead in Pool D
The second week in Pool D sent the teams of Argentina, Germany, Bulgaria and Portugal in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The region called Almirante Brown was set to stage another international event after the small sports hall “Polideportivo Municipal” hosted the 2011 FIVB Youth World Championship.
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A week after both Germany and Bulgaria successfully finished their home campaigns and caught the last train to the 2012 Olympic Games, the two teams arrived in Buenos Aires with experimental squads, allowing some deserved rest to their key players. The names missing for Bulgaria include the captain Vladimir Nikolov, Andrey Zhekov, Teodor Salparov, Todor Aleksiev and Nikolay Nikolov, the latter currently recovering from an injury and undergoing some routine medical procedures. The big star of the “lions” Matey Kaziyski, along with his national and club team coach Radostin Stoychev, took the revolutionary decision to quit the team and enjoy a summer vacation. Both sides spoke to the media and announced that they will not appear in the national team until the President of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation Dancho Lazarov and all the Federation members resign from their positions. Stoychev kept the promise he gave after the first Olympic Qualification tournament in Sofia at the end of May and submitted his resignation as a national team coach due to the unwillingness of Lazarov to leave his position.
Meanwhile, in the German squad a completely deserved break received the stars that defeated Cuba, India and the Czech Republic for the sacred Olympic slot – Gyorgy Grozer, Simon Tischer, Robert Kromm and Marcus Popp.
In the first day of actions the hosts Argentina overcame the young Bulgarian roster in four sets. Their victory, however, did not come as easy as many expected. Without the pressure of the last weeks and knowing that Bulgaria will after all host the Final Six tournament, the young lads of the coaching duo Nayden Naydenov and Georgi Petrov showed their teeth to the Argetinians, but surrendered in the end. Facundo Conte led the “gauchos” with 22 points, whereas Trentino’s future star Tsvetan Sokolov made 18 points for the visitors.
Javier Weber, the Argentine head coach: “We had ups and downs at the beginning. Somehow we could not maintain our rhythm but nevertheless we did not lose our work as a team. Happy that we won but not with the team’s performance.”
In the tournament opener the outsiders Portugal won their first set in the 2012 World League, but lost to a determined German side by 3-1. Portugal’s best player Valdir Sequeira finished the game with 22 points. The same amount of points was reached by the German opposite Jochen Schoeps.
Almirante Brown, Day 1
Argentina – Bulgaria 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 25-17)
Germany – Portugal 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19)
In the second day Portugal again caused some trouble to the young Bulgarians in the third set, which they won convincingly by 25-18. Until then Valentin Bratoev and Tsvetan Sokolov, with the help of Todor Skrimov, were enjoying a great game and led their team to a comfortable and relatively easy 2-0 advantage. The block turns out to be definitely Bulgaria’s best weapon as they dominated in this element (15 vs. 4). The twin brothers Bratoevi played well with each other and even the substitutions of Flavio Gulinelli did not result in anything more than a consolidation set. The back-up opposite Marco Ferreira and the new signing of the promoted to Serie A in Italy BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte Alexandre Ferreira were the best players for Portugal with 18 and 14 points respectively, whereas Valentin Bratoev contributed with 20 for the Bulgarian success.
In the most awaited game of the weekend in Almirante Brown the hosts Argentina utterly disappointed their local fans and lost to Germany in straight sets. It was a bad evening for Argentina’s captain Rodrigo Quiroga, who finished the game with only 5 points and did not show his best volleyball. Despite exiting the gym as Argentina’s highest scorer, Federico Pereyra also disappointed as he made some unforced errors in crucial moments. On the other side of the net, Jochen Schoeps and Sebastian Schwarz contributed to the fifth victory of the Bundesteam in the World League this summer.
Almirante Brown, Day 2
Bulgaria – Portugal 3-1 (25-19, 25-12, 18-25, 25-20)
Germany – Argentina 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-23)
Pictures: FIVB