Povoa de Varzim, Portugal, June 13, 2010. The Portuguese national team defeated this afternoon Greece once again in five sets (25-19, 25-21, 15-25, 19-25 and 15-9) to claim the fourth straight victory in as many matches played so far for the 2010 CEV European League and the ninth triumph out of the last 10 international matches (6 played for the qualifications to the next European Championships are indeed to be added to the count).
Greece entered the match in a good mood (3:1), but Portugal tied the score shortly after, with Flávio Cruz spiking at the first touch and with an ace (3:3). A double block from Joao Jose and Andre Lopes granted Portugal a 3-point advantage after the first technical break and forced Greek coach Gordon Mayforth to ask for a time-out followed shortly after by another when Portugal, with an ace from Valdir Sequeira, scored the 12:7. The good moment of the Portuguese team was very clear in the good understanding between their setter, Tiago Violas, and Joao Jose (14:9). After arriving at the second mandatory stop with a margin of 5 points, the team around coach Juan Diaz allowed Greece to get a bit closer (16:13) but, with an ace of Flavio Cruz, widened once again the gap (18:14). Valdir scored point nr 21 and 22 and that paved the way for the final 25-19.
In the second set, Greece tried to battle equally with Portugal. Andreas Andreadis, with two consecutive blocks, tied the score (9:9), after Portugal had arrived at the first technical time-out in advantage (8:5). Nevertheless Portugal was playing much better than yesterday and Greece was unable to present a decisive fight. The hosts arrived at the second technical time-out with a 3-point lead and continued to play consistently until their triumph at 25-21, even though Greece tried to come back. The third set was completely different from the previous ones. Mayforth made some changes in his team and Greece gained anima and even an ascendant in the score (8:5, 10:6, 14:8), arriving at the second technical time-out with a clear advantage (16:10). Two aces from Roumeliotis exposed the difficulties of the local team in reception and rewarded the good exhibition of the guests in this set with a robust advantage (21:12), practically impossible to annul. Greece won eventually the set with a clear 25-15. Once again, Greece pressured more in the beginning of the fourth set and Roumeliotis added immediately 2 more points (2:0) to the 13 that he had scored in the previous sets. An ace from Andreadis increased even more the gap (8:5 for Greece). Shortly after, the advantage was already of 5 points (13:8). Portugal regrouped and shortened (12:14), but Greece carried the slight advantage until the second mandatory stop (16:14) and stretched it afterwards, taking benefits from a period of disorientation across the Portuguese team (18:14). The offensive “festival” from Roumeliotis continued (23:18) until Fragkos scored the final 25-19.
In the fifth set, Portugal tried to dictate, from the start, the course of the scoreboard (2:1, 4:2, 7:5) and was able to reach the technical time-out in advantage (8:6), even though Roumeliotis continued scoring in attack. Aspiotis, with a block on Valdir, tied at 9. Portugal “woke up” at that time and, with Frederico Siqueira in the serving area, got the lead. Captain Joao Jose scored point 12 (12:9) and the hosts never stopped until the end that arrived at 15-9 with an ace. Nikolaos Roumeliotis was the best scorer of the match with 26 points, while Valdir Sequeira, with 18, was the top scorer for the home team.
Local coach Juan Diaz commented: “Greece is a very tough team. We dominated the two first sets, but afterwards the reception and the service started to fail and Greece took advantage of these flaws. In the fifth set, we amended that situation and ended up by winning well the match. With this kind of matches, the team gains much more maturity”.
Spiker Andre Lopes added: “We started very well, we controlled the match, but afterwards, in the third and fourth sets, without knowing exactly why, we went down. Fortunately, we were able to turn the match around and won the game in the tie-break”.
Greece’s coach Gordon Mayforth: “Congratulations to Portugal. It is very hard to lose two matches like this”.
Results
Portugal vs. Greece 3:2 (25-19, 25-21, 15-25, 19-25, 9-15)