Croatia NT 2011

Croatia unveils high ambitions for European League

2011 CEV Volleyball European League - Men & Women

Slavonski Brod, Croatia, May 17, 2011. A press conference was organized this past Friday at the premises of the “Vijuš” sports hall in Slavonski Brod to brief national and local media about the upcoming campaign of Croatia’s national teams in the 2011 CEV Volleyball European League. The event was attended by the President of the Croatian Volleyball Organization, Mr. Zdeslav Barač, the head coaches of the men’s and women’s national team, Radovan Malevič and Irina Kirillova, plus Mr. Zeljko Bošnjak for the local Organizing Committee in Slavonski Brod.
“We are extremely pleased that our country is going to play host to such a prestigious competition with even more flavor descending from the participation of both our national teams that will be able to even play on the same weekend. The city of Slavonski Brod will host two rounds of the women’s competition with the double headers against Turkey and Belarus, plus a double confrontation with Belgium in the men’s division. We have decided to allot the organization of so many matches to this city because here we have excellent infrastructures and conditions, plus this is an area with a strong connection with Volleyball” stated Mr. Barač.
“I am very happy to be back to Slavonski Brod” said coach Radovan Malevič, “I have very sweet memories from this city since the time I played here at the beginning of my career. We have very high ambitions for our men’s national team and everything we do is actually connected to our campaign and intention to pursue our Olympic dream in London 2012. The European League is a first step in our preparations for the Olympic qualifications coming up this fall and therefore I am happy that we will cross our ways with strong teams such as Slovenia, Belgium and Great Britain. Our team is a good mix of young and experienced players and with some hard work we will be able to compete with the best in the world”. So far he has invited a total of 24 players to join the national team: Ante Colic, Andjelko Cuk, Igor Demirovic, Josip Fehir, Danijel Galic, Toni Kovacevic, Inoslav Krnic, Marko Marelic, Ivan Mihalj, Mario Mocic, Darko Nojic, Zeljko Nojic, Igor Omrcen, Fran Peterlin, Ivan Raic, Sven Sarcevic, Roko Sikiric, Matija Sabljak, Ante Suker, Ivan Tropan, Sime Vulin, Frane Zanic, Mario Zelic, Tsimafei Zhukouski.

Irina Kirillova, one of the most decorated Volleyball players in history, added: “We will start our campaign with Turkey which is in my opinion the real favorite of our group, so the first games will be extremely important to determine our ambitions and chances. I am happy to play in Slavonski Brod as we have excellent conditions for Volleyball here”. She also has prepared a list of 24 players whereby she will pick out the 12 to be nominated for the various weekends of action in the 2011 CEV Volleyball European League: Jelena Alajbeg, Bernarda Cutuk, Hana Cutura, Mirela Delic, Paola Dosen, Cecilia Dujic, Ilijana Dugandzic, Samanta Fabris, Biljana Gligorovic, Ana Grbac, Mateja Ikic, Nikolina Kovacevic, Martina Malevic, Marina Miletic, Ivana Milos, Natasa Osmokrovic, Maja Poljak, Sanja Popovic, Marija Prsa, Lorena Sipic, Tamara Susic, Senna Usic Jogunica, Simona Usic, Ivana Zmire.

At the end of the press conference Mr. Barač and Mr. Bošnjak signed the contract related to the organization of the above mentioned matches of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European League in Slavonski Brod. The expectations there are really high and the local Volleyball fans can hardly wait for the actions of the national teams to start.