victory given away
Volleyball players disappointed despite the EM round of 16
Germany’s Camilla Weitzel lies on the ground after the game. photo
© Marius Becker/dpa
The German volleyball players lost four match points against the Czech Republic and are still in the round of 16 of the European Championship. But the disappointment is huge after the game. It’s going to be very difficult.
Instead of cheering for the secured entry into the round of 16, the German volleyball players sat exhausted and disappointed on the hall floor. Because after the narrowly lost thriller against The Czech Republic threatens to be an absolute top-class player in the knockout round of the home European Championship.
“That makes it very difficult. I’m very disappointed,” said national coach Vital Heynen after the 2: 3 in the tie-break. “Today we came close enough to make up the tournament despite Hanna’s absence and this difficult situation, but we didn’t make it.”
The DVV team probably needs a win against the seemingly overpowering Turkish women on Thursday (8 p.m. / Sportdeutschland.tv) to secure second place in the group. Second place would mean a presumably easier round of 16, which will be held in Belgium. Heynen doesn’t see a chance of that. “The quality is so much higher than ours. We try to play well but it’s impossible to win,” said the 54-year-old Belgian.
Olympic qualification at risk
It is possible that Turkey with the exceptional player Melissa Vargas will already be the group winners and could rest players. But with the world number one, the second row is also excellently occupied. If Germany finishes third or fourth, they could face world champions Serbia or Poland in the round of 16, who beat Germany in the quarter-finals of the Nations League – albeit narrowly.
In addition, the two defeats against the Czech Republic and Sweden also have a negative effect on the world rankings, which are so important for Olympic qualification. Germany slipped to twelfth place there. The top ten have the best chance of participating in the Summer Games in Paris 2024.
The missed opportunity is all the more bitter. The injured German key player Hanna Orthmann was also sorely missed against the Czechs, but the German team had victory in their own hands on several occasions. “We lost courage, we made mistakes at important moments,” said captain Lena Stigrot. “You don’t win a game that way, we have ourselves to blame for that.”
“Momentum has tipped”
24 hours after the first defeat of the tournament, the German team gambled away a 2-0 set lead and missed four match points. “We gave them the game, we made more mistakes than I’ve ever seen from us,” said the 28-year-old Stigrot. “We couldn’t take the pressure to win today.”
18 serve errors faced only three aces. In the 144 minutes, the Germans always had the right answer ready in the important moments. But then nervousness took over in front of almost 1900 spectators. “The momentum has changed,” said Stigrot, who was the second most successful attacker with 20 points, but was not immune to a few mistakes.
The 28-year-old saw at least something positive before the game against Turkey. “Now nobody needs to worry anymore. Now we’re going there on Thursday, we want to enjoy the packed hall and hopefully we’ll have another good game.”