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On Wednesday, Turkey and Spain started their quest for a spot to contest the final round of this year’s #EuroVolleyU17M in the best way – as they claimed their respective matches with Austria and Portugal on the opening day of Pool E competition in Viana do Castelo, Portugal.
Actually, Turkey already had a 2-0 advantage before securing a 3-2 victory (25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 15-8) against the young Austrians – whose mistakes somehow determined the outcome of the match. Dogan Karakoç (TUR) with 32 points and Benedikt Sablatnig (AUT) with 21 were the best scorers in this fixture.
“We came in very nervous and fearful in the first two sets, but the way we fought in the following sets gave the team confidence and you could see a steady rise in the level of our performance. In the last set, we felt once again very nervous and the inexperience of this young team was decisive. We will recharge and, as we face Portugal tomorrow, we will have to analyse the video of today’s match between the Portuguese and the Spaniards because we do not have much knowledge of the two teams.”
Nina Sawatzki
Head Coach Austria
“It is always good to start a competition with a victory, regardless of the result and Austria left us a good impression, as they are a strong team and have good perspectives for the future. It was a good match, but we played better and deserved to win, so we can only be pleased. Tomorrow we will face Spain, which has a good team, but we will do everything to secure a second victory.” said Ali Kazim Hidayetoglu the Assistant coach of Turkey.
Later in the evening, Spain beat hosts Portugal 3-1 (26-24, 17-25, 25-21, 25-12) to claim first place in the pool at the end of the opening day of action. Martin Casais Blanco from Spain with 25 points and Francisco Mendes of Portugal with 17 were the best scorers of the match.
Nuno Pereira, Portugal coach: “After a balanced start, what made the difference was our lack of consistency in some fundamentals of the game, especially in the block, as we were unable to stop a player from Spain, who created many problems for us. The match against Austria is decisive and we will have to change our blocking game. Turkey seem to be the team with more chances to qualify, but the other teams have already shown that they have a good level and I believe that Spain will be in contention for qualification to the Final Round too.”
Spain beat Portugal 3-1 in an Iberian derby in Viana do Castelo
“We played very well in the first set, my players showed a lot of character by turning around the score and edging the home team. That gave us the feeling that we could win the match and we managed to do so showing a good performance in the third and fourth sets. Tomorrow we will face an opponent who is physically superior and very good technically. Therefore, we have to be very consistent and good in service and block and well-organised in defence.” said Carlos Carreno Cejudo, the Head coach of Spain after the match.
Live streaming of all matches is available at www.volei.tv.
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