2008 Beijing Olympic Volleyball Tournament

POLAND vs. GERMANY 3:0 (25:17; 33:31; 25:20)
Great play by Polish players. All team played very well.

Today I just sit on my chair and watch all the 6 matches

I have to say how great that Mikaylov play against to SRB....

I don't like the way Stoykov play,He didn't make me think he is a BUL OH.

Quote from jist

after taking the first 2 sets, USA came a bit satisfied already and forgotten that to win a game, you must win 3 sets anyway, tomorrow will be a big game (vs Italy) so I think Mccutcheon will be there...and so I hope the team wins.

Ball was taken out nearthe end of the third set because of something wrong with his calf muscle. The trainer worked on it throughout the rest of the third and the fourth sets. Ball started warming up during between the fourth and fifth sets and came out an played the fifth set. He didn't jump full strength but was able to set well. USAV would not provide the TV commentators any information on the Ball injury and they didn't mention it in their press release. From my vantage point, I thought it looked like a calf cramp. The trainer kept rubbing and stretching the calf and you could see Ball tell the trainer it was "tight". I am guessing a days rest and the calf should be fine but we will see.

The US did relax a little in the third set but I think that they would have won it in three if Ball was not taken out due to the injury...

Quote from michaelchan

I don't like the way Stoykov play,He didn't make me think he is a BUL OH.

You are right but that was the only person who could do that. Todor Aleksiev is injured and Plamen even wasn't in the hall, so we hadn't any other choice. May be only Stoykov's serving and 3 blocks were good, but reception and especially attack he wasn't good enough again. But I'm very happy coz of the victory and I hope it will be even better against Japan, because Aleksiev will probably play then and he is better than Stoykov in my opinion.

Poles played really good today

Polish played well, fantastic 2nd half of 2nd set! German players said that they take Poland by suprise and I think it was... a new Denhe's haircut German didn't have so strong service as we expected. I'm happy I saw Siebeck again!

It's a pity that Serbia lost a match... Unluckily, I couldn't watch that game, although Polish television had to transmit it, but finally they didn't... I can't find individual statistics... I know only that Russia played great in block, 17:9 for Russia...

Somethings is going on with our team! Plamen Konstantinov has ntreated old injury and our doctor refused he to play till rest of the Olympics. We played good today, but serves werent so good. Vlado Nikolov again the rescuer with Asian team. Kazyiski not serving well..., just I'm ...

Quote from superbobo

Somethings is going on with our team! Plamen Konstantinov has ntreated old injury and our doctor refused he to play till rest of the Olympics. We played good today, but serves werent so good. Vlado Nikolov again the rescuer with Asian team. Kazyiski not serving well..., just I'm ...

Are you sure Plamen is out of the entire Olympics?

Actually right now there are so many rumors and things are really colmplicated, so no one knows what exactly is happening. The mistery is full

Maybe there are huge conflicts... NOW!

I couldn't watch Bulgarian match, but Poland did great. Finally a good performance from Poland. Very fast game.

Of course, there is some conflict in the Bulgarian squad. WTF, an injury on the matchday, when there is no practice and one day after the last one after which Plamen was probably OK??? That's nonsence! If he was injured, he would have been in the sportshall supporting the team as a captain, exactly as Aleksiev was on the bench during the whole game wearing a tracksuit! Why is there no information about the injury and why is Plamen hiding like a rabbit? Because there is a dispute between him and someone else. Now we, the fans of BG NT, can just hope that everything will be forgotten tomorrow or the day after, otherwise, with players like Stoykov on the court our dream is gone!

Does anyone know if Kovacevic from Serbia is injured or not? Nikic virtually couldn't pass through the Russian blockers and the Serbian Coach still insisted on letting him on the court for so long till the very last moment. I know his back-court skill is the best among the 4 OHs, but still there were so many points lost from his position. Situation is just like the World League Final against USA, and was even worse yesterday.

Quote from andrea

Does anyone know if Kovacevic from Serbia is injured or not? Nikic virtually couldn't pass through the Russian blockers and the Serbian Coach still insisted on letting him on the court for so long till the very last moment. I know his back-court skill is the best among the 4 OHs, but still there were so many points lost from his position. Situation is just like the World League Final against USA, and was even worse yesterday.

NO,I don't think Kovacevic was injured,Because I saw he play yesterday,He didn't seen have any problem.

Now Plamen Konstantinov is in Bulgaria . F*CK medias! F*CK TV! What is going on and why they are hiding him!

Really sorry about this post but we all dont know whats going on. First Vlado and Boyan are are almost in good wealth, in the next day they are injured and they wont play, mysteries about Konstantinov - maybe they have found illegal substances in him and he now whants to prove.

Poland played very well against Germany, but I'm not in euphory. Germans are good, but not the best. Now we need to beat Egypt, without underestimating them. Real tests and stronger opponents will com after that.
Konstantinov's luck is a big problem for Bulgaria. It is Bulgarian symbol for me. I suppose - also for Bulgarians.

Without Konstantinov, Bulgaria's reception is likely to suffer a lot against strong opponents ...
And the team will miss his experience and leadership as well.

We'll see if Bulgarian NT will overcome this problem, but I don't think that they can be medal contender without him.

About Poland; they played a solid game against Germany, and made few mistakes (especially in the end of 2nd set when they were under pressure). That's a good thing for this team.
Playing against Serbia, Russia and Brazil will be a different story (but they will not be under pressure) and Egypt is definitely not a team able to beat them as long as they don't play stupidly.
Without a doubt, the game against Germany was the most important for Poland in this round !

OMG! What a thriller it was!!! I'm dead!
I didn't expect Germany to play so well. Thanks to both teams for the fantastic volleyball show! And congratulations to all fans of Russia upon a great victory!!

Russia - Germany 3:2 (25:27, 25:21, 21:25, 25:23, 16:14)

Quote from LightMaster

OMG! What a thriller it was!!! I'm dead!
I didn't expect Germany to play so well. Thanks to both teams for the fantastic volleyball show! And congratulations to all fans of Russia upon a great victory!!

Russia - Germany 3:2 (25:27, 25:21, 21:25, 25:23, 16:14)

They were just trying to make the match more exciting for us.

Haha, it was very good to see POLTAVSKY being decisive at a very delicated moment. He is an amazing player, but sometimes he leaves us down when we need him the most.

Russian services are the best since a LONG time. Effective and powerful with acceptable number of mistakes.

Unfortunately, Kosarev and Tetyukin are old and lost a lot power in their spikes.

USA 3: 1 ITALIA (24-26; 25-22; 25-15; 25-21)

I thought USA's going to lose this one because of that tragic incident...But Im glad they went up and played great against Italia.

Congratulations!