Belgium won despire Van Hecke having 17% in attack 
2013 European Championship - Germany and Switzerland
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Eczacıbaşı's manager made it clear that they are not injured.
According to some sources
national team is divided in two. Vakıfbank players and others. Neriman and Esra became victims. 
No this can't be true. Do Vakifbank players think they are some kind of goddesses because they have won 3 cups? Why would Barbolini listen to them? Oh please no, we know this story from Italy.
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Display MoreHello brother
Unfortunately the end of the season for our favourite NT comes along.
5th at Grand Prix was very flattering but the goal to reach European semi finals looks very unprobable according to me.
I think Mencarelli had the will to build a NT with the largest Bergamo basis (players of previous year + Arrighetti) as possible. And he was right.
But Chiara di Iulio asked to rest her back this summer and finally Merlo was injured for ECH.
Stranger is the selection of Bosetti sisters (Lucia out of order and the younger out of shape since long months) and of 4 MBs..
But anyway i don't think it would have changed a lot. What a pity for Fiorin and an other OH (Marcon ?) but that's all.
I think that we lost a lot with Lucia Bosetti's injury. She is really good in reception and defense, where Italy makes a lot of mistakes, and also in attack she is very strong. Costagrande looks slow, after two sets and Signorile is unprecise. it is a young team, they worked hard all summer and I think that if this year they won't reach final four in ECH it will be experience gained for the future. Mencarelli did a brave thing by calling all new and young girls, we can't pretend that they play and win easily as the veterans in 2007-2009. -
Joana : Belgium won despire Van Hecke having 17% in attack
yes but 14 blocks vs 5
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I think that we lost a lot with Lucia Bosetti's injury. She is really good in reception and defense, where Italy makes a lot of mistakes, and also in attack she is very strong. Costagrande looks slow, after two sets and Signorile is unprecise. it is a young team, they worked hard all summer and I think that if this year they won't reach final four in ECH it will be experience gained for the future. Mencarelli did a brave thing by calling all new and young girls, we can't pretend that they play and win easily as the veterans in 2007-2009.Right ! With both Bosetti at the top of their shape, it wouldn't be the same Italy
of course I put Lucia Bosetti in the "Bergamo basis" even if she went away since a long period now -
Guys, how many spots will the European Championship give to the 2014 WCH?
I read in wikipedia that will be only two..is that right? (I know tehre is still the wualification tournament in January)..it is cause I though in 2009 there were more...
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Since CEV site, as so often, is down, I checked tournament website, and they say the same: http://www.eurovolley2013.org/…10_EM2013_Schedule_de.pdf
What!?
According to Cev website it was not like this before! Have they changed the tournament now to make German path to final easier??? -
until now I have nothing serious against Mencarelli
We all knew this year would be a queer one -
Guys, how many spots will the European Championship give to the 2014 WCH?
I read in wikipedia that will be only two..is that right? (I know tehre is still the wualification tournament in January)..it is cause I though in 2009 there were more...
Only two. In January will be five tournaments for next 7 places (5 winners and 2 best 2nd places teams). -
Only two. In January will be five tournaments for next 7 places (5 winners and 2 best 2nd places teams).Thanks.
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it is cause I though in 2009 there were more...
Actually, there were none. European qualifications were held before the ECh. This is a new system now.
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What!?
According to Cev website it was not like this before! Have they changed the tournament now to make German path to final easier???I don't think so. Before the tournament I was checking the schedule and I thought Germany would meet Italy again in semifinal like in 2011 and 2009 because I expected Italy to win their pool. Until QF, there is distinction A-C and B-D, but in semifinal they cross their ways.
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I don't think so. Before the tournament I was checking the schedule and I thought Germany would meet Italy again in semifinal like in 2011 and 2009 because I expected Italy to win their pool. Until QF, there is distinction A-C and B-D, but in semifinal they cross their ways.
I confess I hoped this "traditional" semi-final too but not with a great confidence since the final WGP tournament.
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Actually, there were none. European qualifications were held before the ECh. This is a new system now.
Really?
Well, I can't trust my memory. Maybe that is why I though there were more, they were already qualified. hehehehe 
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until now I have nothing serious against Mencarelli
We all knew this year would be a queer oneI hope you are not serious, I can accept losing to Belgium but not in this way. Mencarelli is insane, Signorile was just embarassing today and he never took her out. I haven't seen ONE precise set by Signorile to OHs today and at the end she totally destroyed also Diouf with her terrible scissor hands. I want to challenge anybody here to keep on saying "Signorile is a good setter". I don't really like even Letizia Camera, but Mencarelli should have at least tried to put her on court instead of Signorile but he never did it and nobody knows why. It's all summer we Italians blame Mencarelli for his choices about setters and finally now we have the proof that we were right and he was wrong. We do not accept and do not understand why Francesca Ferretti was at home watching the match on TV and Signorile was playing it. This is insane.
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At the end nobody is happy :
Frustrating year 
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At the end nobody is happy :
Frustrating year I wouldn't be happy even if Italy had won. It's not just a matter of winning/losing, Volleyball is a matter of good play, fun, I love so much this sport and I love my country, and seeing such a low horrible level setter representing Italian Volleyball at such an important international competition makes me VERY frustrated. This Italian NT is not my NT anymore, I cannot support anymore a team and a setter that makes me hate volleyball instead of loving it. That's all.
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It's so easy to blame everything on Vakıfbank players even though only Gözde and Bahar playing on their levels at the moment
I don't blame Seda either as she's not an OH. Anyway what Nalan Ural did is just wrong. Won't we have an ECh without any scandal? -
I wouldn't be happy even if Italy had won. It's not just a matter of winning/losing, Volleyball is a matter of good play, fun, I love so much this sport and I love my country, and seeing such a low horrible level setter representing Italian Volleyball at such an important international competition makes me VERY frustrated. This Italian NT is not my NT anymore, I cannot support anymore a team and a setter that makes me hate volleyball instead of loving it. That's all.
Poor Ferretti...If she were not Italian, she would have been a much more famous setter right now. Not so many people know that she is a two time olympian. She had been known just as Lo bianco's back up.
When Mencarelli was named as the head coach, I would expect to see Francy as main setter but he is the same as Barbollini.I should hate the bosses as well...
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Now that preliminary is over, it's time for some first impressions:
There were only 3 really weak teams: Spain, Switzerland and France. Unfortunately, due to the pools composition, France is still in the tournament and a much stronger team like Bulgaria is out. Azerbaijan's performance (or rather their results since I couldn't watch them at all) has been a negative surprise for me too, I expected them to be stronger than Belarus and maybe close to Croatia.
As I said before, Bulgaria's main problem was that they showed their best play during WGP and couldn't keep it up. I haven't watched enough of Serbia to judge, but they might face the same problem, and they urgently need Mihajlovic back! Serbia is a good example for how much can change in 2 years, they now play with exactly the same line-up that became champion 2 years ago, but Nikolic and Molnar are completely different players now.
Poland looks better than in WGP, but still I think Italy will be the end for them. Italy has not looked good at all so far, but I guess they'll get past Poland somehow. Another team that hasn't convinced me is Turkey, only Gözde, Neslihan and Naz are doing a good job. I'd be surprised to see them in semifinal if they don't drastically improve.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, watch out for Russia! They have a new team and all, but I'd not be surprised to see them in final. Sure, it won't be easy, but they have a lot of potential.
By beating Italy, Belgium has pretty much paved their way to semifinal, and I'm very curious how far they can go. With the fighting spirit that Czech team displayed today, they won't be an easy opponent either...
The most interesting playoff match for me will be Croatia-Netherlands. Croatia has the better individual players and they played very well in preliminary, but Dutch team also made a good impression, and their advantage might be that they spent more time and played more matches together as a team this summer.
As for German team, they have improved match per match so far, and the good thing is that if one player has problems, someone else starts to play better. For example today Brinker was on fire in the beginning but later when she struggled, Kozuch suddenly was there to take over. Also Ssuschke today played her best match this summer. She, Brinker and Dürr play much better than they did during WGP. Fürst as always is a key player and very reliable, both setters do a decent job no matter which one is on court. Beier was better in WGP than right now, but at least her defense helps the team. We don't have any better OH than her on bench so it's no use whining.