It is sometimes infuriating to support this team. Their ability to lose a bunch of points in a row out of blue never ceases to amaze me.
I just knew they were going to fall apart when they had to replay that point, and voila, that's just what they did.
Posts by Joana
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Can you write some of the pre-match statements?
It was basically all the same story: everything depends on us and Russia is not what it used to be. They also openly said that they're the better team, which is something VERY out of character for this team - they would play someone like Algeria and claim it's a serious opponent and that they need to play their best. But not this time. They were also very ignorant of this Russian team's style, were unaware of their blockers etc.
The post-match statements tell the whole story. Ognjenovic: "This wasn't the Russia we know, they played so fast". Nikolic: "We never imagined they could play this well."
Well, duh. That's something you should have been counting on. I hope they've learned their lesson now. -
Serbia's performance (or lack of it) in the semis was a direct consequence of Terzic's bizarre fascination with Gamova. It looks like they all thought "No Gamova - no problem!" and clearly underestimated the Russians. I couldn't believe what they were saying before the match, for a team that's usually rather humble and at times even too modest, their statements were certainly surprising.
And when Russia came out willing to play, they just couldn't fight back. It reminded me of Serbia's ECH '07 against Poland, except that Serbia was on a receiving end this time.Their post-match statements tell the same story, they're all saying that "they didn't know Russia now plays like this". You're professional players, how can you not know that?! Krsmanovic even said she never watched this Russian team before. And even more importantly, what was Serbian staff doing? Not to mention that Terzic is coaching in Russian league and is supposed to know all these players... Embarrassing attitude.
Russia plays great volleyball and I really hope they take the title.
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I'm not too thrilled about this competition format. If Belgium had lost yesterday, and they were quite close to it, it would mean they only played 4 matches at the entire tournament. That's too little.
Blink and you miss it.
On the other hand you have tournaments like GP final where you play 5 matches in 5 days... Volleyball calendar needs to be more streamlined. -
- Christiane Fürst and Jelena Nikolic (not absolutely sure about her but I think) have played all ECH tournaments since 2003
Yes, Nikolic did. Maja Ognjenovic almost did too, she was on wide roster in 2003, but ultimately didn't make the cut.
I think there should be play-off matches for places 5-8 when there's something substantial at stake, like direct qualification for the next ECh.
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Maja's spike on set point was definitely the highlight of the game. And she played a really good match overall.
Italy fought really hard in the second set and managed to make it close for a while, but at the moment this group of players is just not up for this level.Mihajlovic might be back for the semis.
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Any news about Mihajlovic and if she will play tomorrow or not?
The injury is not severe, but it's still unknown whether she'll play tomorrow.
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Czech Republic had maybe the best draw to reach the semis, and they couldn't even get to the quarterfinals. That will be tough to get over for them.
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OMG, this is one of the biggest surprises in recent history Especially in these circumstances, after having such a huge lead... That's a mental collapse that even surpasses the ones produced by Serbia.
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It makes sense that Mammadova would retire from NT. Good for her. Azerbaijani NT seems to lack any direction and strategy and she's just wasting her time there. She played on the NT for 10 years, she's paid her dues.
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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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Belgium won despire Van Hecke having 17% in attack
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Draw from hell for Serbia
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Does not get any easier for Serbia... We need Mihajlovic back.
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Natasa Krsmanovic must like the ECh atmosphere, she is having a great tournament, just like 2 years ago. Rasic should improve her positioning in block somewhat. She is not playing badly, but we all know she can do much better.
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Wow, if Belgium wins, we'll have a match between Italy and Poland in the play-off for the quarterfinal. Once upon a time it was the final!
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Once again, Nikolic starts well but runs of steam eventually. Terzic HAS to think about that if Mihajlovic is unable to play the rest of the tournament because having one Molnar on court is more than enough, two are unbearable.
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And Bulgaria is out I did expect much more from them, but if not for Mihajlovic's injury and various mental disorders of other Serbian players, they would have 3 losses.
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So after their good performances in first round Bulgaria or Czech Republic will go out afterall. This happens a lot in Serbia's group at ECh. In 2007 Slovakia unexpectedly beat Serbia in first round 3-2, but lost the next two matches and was eliminated. Then in 2009 again Slovakia beat Czech Republic 3-2 in first round, but lost the next two matches and didn't go through. Not it will happen again.
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Excellent picture quality, but at least for me the sound is ahead of picture so I know what happens before the point is over