The head coach of the Bulgarian national team, Gianlorenzo Blengini, did not hide his satisfaction after the valuable 3:1 (25:20, 18:25, 25:23, 25:17) victory over Ukraine in the last match of the tournament in Ljubljana. The Italian specialist emphasized that the team had expected an extremely tough match against a top-class opponent, but had remained calm in the most difficult moments and had taken another step in its development.
"We expected a very difficult match against an extremely strong team with great players like Plotnytskyi, Semeniuk, and many other high-level athletes. Before the match, we set two main goals," Blengini stated.
The coach revealed what the main plan of the Bulgarian staff was.
"The first goal was, even when we encountered difficulties – be it physically or due to the opponent's class – never to give up, regardless of the score. The second was to understand whether the problems they created for us were a result of their class, or if there were things we could do better."
According to Blengini, Bulgaria remained equal to one of the strongest teams in the tournament for a large part of the match.
"For a long time, we played point for point. There were moments when we could have defended a few more balls, moments when we could have made fewer errors on serve. But against such opponents, you have to take more risks."
The Italian also highlighted the key moment in the second set.
"It was decided mostly by Plotnytskyi's impact – with his serve and attack, he showed why he is a top-class player. The most important thing, however, is that we remained calm, did not lose confidence, and point by point reached this very important victory."
Blengini placed special importance on the psychological effect of the victory.
"This victory is particularly important from a psychological point of view. Until now, we had never managed to win the fourth match of a tournament in the Volleyball Nations League. Today we did it. This is a small step, but I hope it is another step towards greater consistency in this team's performance."
Finally, the coach turned his attention to the next challenge – the third week of the Volleyball Nations League in Chicago.
"Now the future is called Chicago. We have two weeks to properly combine rest and work. After that, we will think about Chicago, where the level will be even higher. We start against Poland, and for now, we are only thinking about that match. But first, we need to properly organize these two weeks before departure."