EuroVolley 2021-Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria & Croatia

    The rivalry between Turkey and Serbia is slowly taking on epic proportions (European wise), this will be the 5th duel in the "finals" (SF, Bronze medal match and final) of EuroVolley from the last 6 editions. As a rule, Serbia has won these duels in the past, but the balance of power on the field has now changed significantly, I would say on both sides. Serbia is weakened by the absence of Brankica and the downward form of some players, on the other hand a mature Turkish team with a great leader :rose:, great atmosphere, self-confidence and desire. Based on the games shown so far, it can be said with great certainty that Turkey is currently in much better shape and has taken on the role of favorites (and I really think so). If both teams played the best they can (ATM), i still think that Serbia could grab that win, especially when we consider home crowd factor. Anyway, although of course I would like Serbia to win and continue a winner run at EuroVolley (currently 23 wins in a row), reach the finals and win the third consecutive gold, it all sounds really great and I would be lying if I said I don't care as volleyball lover from Serbia and their supporter, but if for some reason I would be happy for Serbia to lose, it is Turkey, with the emphasis and the obligation to win in the final :hit:, that gold medal would really be, I give myself the right to say, already well-deserved satisfaction for everything they have given to European and World volleyball.


    Good luck to both teams, I hope this will be a quality and exciting battle.

    Quote from Bogdan

    The rivalry between Turkey and Serbia is slowly taking on epic proportions (European wise), this will be the 5th duel in the "finals" (SF, Bronze medal match and final) of EuroVolley from the last 6 editions. As a rule, Serbia has won these duels in the past, but the balance of power on the field has now changed significantly, I would say on both sides. Serbia is weakened by the absence of Brankica and the downward form of some players, on the other hand a mature Turkish team with a great leader :rose:, great atmosphere, self-confidence and desire. Based on the games shown so far, it can be said with great certainty that Turkey is currently in much better shape and has taken on the role of favorites (and I really think so). If both teams played the best they can (ATM), i still think that Serbia could grab that win, especially when we consider home crowd factor. Anyway, although of course I would like Serbia to win and continue a winner run at EuroVolley (currently 23 wins in a row), reach the finals and win the third consecutive gold, it all sounds really great and I would be lying if I said I don't care as volleyball lover from Serbia and their supporter, but if for some reason I would be happy for Serbia to lose, it is Turkey, with the emphasis and the obligation to win in the final :hit:, that gold medal would really be, I give myself the right to say, already well-deserved satisfaction for everything they have given to European and World volleyball.


    Good luck to both teams, I hope this will be a quality and exciting battle.

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    I would say the chances would be equal if the match would be played in neutral court. Serbia has the advantage of this. They are so depended to Tijana but beyond everything Serbia is Serbia(or I would say Tijana is Tijana:whistle:) I expect a very tough match for both sides but I see Serbia clear favourite. I can see Tijana smashing all the balls she sees up on the air and scoring at least 30 points:teach:

    I hope Guidetti wont substitute the players immediatly even they play bad in first set which is very likely because of the tension. He should show his trust and let them fix their faults. I dont want to see something like Seyma playing against Korea all 4 sets in our most important match of the volleyball history.

    Good luck for the both sides:super:

    The bet companies are also confused about the result of Tur x Ser. I have been following the odds for the winner since today morning.


    Earlier today It was 3.60 for Tur and 1.40 for Serbia.


    and in 3 hours it is 2.20 Tur and 1.60 Ser. I will be not surprised if Turkey becomes the favorite till the start of the match


    edit : as i write it has changed again.. now Tur 2.05 x ser 1.77 :what:

    Quote from Umu11

    It looks like she didn’t attend the training in the main hall yesterday but later it was said she already had a training in another hall, was given a rest for that “second” training in the main hall.

    I was also thinking this and people assuming she is injured because of it. I hope it's the case, besides that I want it to be a fair game I don't want Bosko to deal with an injury at this stage of her career :(

    Quote from beri

    I heard Boskovic is injured? :what: is it true, is it a false rumour?

    There was such information but it turned out to be false;) Yesterday she did not participate in training with the team because she was resting but she had trained earlier in another room :)


    I'm excited for the NED-ITA match for tonight :win:


    I think they key for the Dutch will be in the opposite and MB position. The setters/OH/libero position performed pretty good this tournament so far. In this match it really depends on if MB duo will be able to stop or slow down Egonu. And even more important the amount of fire power coming from the OPP. Dambrink is offensively not a player yet to rely on, which is okay because she's 18. For Plak I don't really know wh⁹at to think. She either is not as powerful as before, or she changed her attack approach, because it just looks different than the 2018 version of her to me.


    Italy isn't stable this summer but their match against Russia was great, so that scares me a bit:gone:


    Anyway, with this young team the Netherlands already exceeded my expectations and the match is gonna be valuable whatever the result will be. Hoping for a competitive match tonight :heart:

    On paper, because they are hosts and the current champions (actually, bi champions), the favourite is Serbia. Nevertheless I strongly believe that from the 4 semi finalists, the team is playing the best vball is Turkey. Despite of those lost sets against Romania and Czechia. They have been more regular and consistent as a team than NL, Italy and Serbia.


    As I have said it before, when Turkey isnt the favourite on the paper, they tend to play much, much better than when they dont have the heavy favourite label. This is the reason the reason why I think they not only have a huge chance to win today, but also to grab the gold medal. A gold medal which would be the cherry on the top for a team which has been already many years around the top teams, but not still "materializing" it. I usually compare Turkey to Dominican Republic (two teams which could have achieved way more, but missed tiny steps for arriving to the goal). The Caribbeans at the end have a gold medal in their continental championship (not talking about the competetion won some days ago, but the one in 2009).


    In the other hand, as it was well summarized: Tijana is Tijana. She is the kind of player who could single handly win a match. The absence of Brankica is a big downgrade for the hosts, we also saw it in Tokyo. If Tijana had a little bit help from her OH teammamates, it would be easier, but so far it has not happened. Could it happen today? Maybe, but it is very unlikely.