Finland fulfilled its part of the task in the battle for historic participation in the Volleyball Nations League. The Northerners defended their European League title after a second victory over the Netherlands, but after Russia's return to the world ranking, attention is now focused on the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), which will have to clarify the mechanism by which the new VNL participant will be determined.
The Finnish men's national team defended its European League title after winning the second final match against the Netherlands with a score of 3:1 (25:15, 20:25, 25:18, 25:21) in The Hague. Following their 3:1 (27:25, 23:25, 25:23, 25:13) success in the first match in Nokia, the Finns deservedly triumphed with two victories in the final clash and lifted the trophy for the second consecutive year.
The guests started impressively and won the first set with a convincing 25:15. The Netherlands responded in the second part and equalized after 25:20, but the Finns quickly regained the initiative. They took the third set with 25:18, and in the fourth, they closed the match at 25:21 after two hours of play.
Besides defending its title, the team also broke its long-standing losing streak as a guest against the Netherlands, as its previous success on Dutch soil dated back 13 years.
The new title also brought Finland a prize of 100,000 euros, while the Netherlands received 60,000 euros as a finalist.
With their victories in the finals, Finland climbed to a record 17th place in its history in the world ranking and did everything in its power in pursuit of a debut participation in the Volleyball Nations League. Precisely because of this, the Scandinavians' success puts the FIVB in a delicate situation. After Russia's reinstatement in the world ranking, it became unclear how the new VNL participant would be determined, as Finland met all sports criteria it could influence.
The match in The Hague was №1439 in the history of the Finnish men's national team. The team's balance is now 688 wins and 751 losses. It now remains to be seen whether the FIVB will confirm that the sporting principle will be leading in determining the next new participant in the Volleyball Nations League, or if it will have to seek another solution after Russia's return to international volleyball.
photo:cev.eu
