The Bulgarian national team received serious recognition from Russia's head coach, Konstantin Bryanskiy. In an extensive interview for Legalbet, mainly dedicated to the expected return of Russian national teams to the international scene, the specialist used none other than the world vice-champions as an example of how modern volleyball is developing.
Bryanskiy, who is not only the national head coach but also the senior coach of Russia's champion Dynamo (Moscow), stated that, in his opinion, world volleyball is increasingly moving towards the powerful and athletic style that Russia has established in recent years.
"The vector of development in world volleyball is such that it is moving in Russia's direction. Many leading national teams strive to play the kind of volleyball that our national team demonstrated and continues to demonstrate  powerful, athletic, strong. We have always advocated such an approach  with quality power serves and a high block, and other countries are learning from us."
Bryanskiy pointed to Bulgaria as the first example.
"Look at the Bulgarians, for example  finalists from the last World Championship. All players in the starting six, including the setter, are around or over two meters tall, and they all play very aggressively."
Only after that did the Russian specialist also cite the USA as an example.
"The Americans found two opposite hitters over 210 centimeters tall, and their middle blockers are also very tall. Ambitious national teams that want to contend for the highest places are relying precisely on the powerful and athletic style. We have always set this trend, and that is why we will certainly not be lost on the world stage after our return."
An interesting detail is that Bryanskiy specifically emphasized Bulgaria's setter. At the last World Championship, this position was held by 208-centimeter Simeon Nikolov, who played in the Russian Super League for Lokomotiv (Novosibirsk) last season. Although Russia's head coach did not mention Nikolov by name, it is hard to overlook the fact that one of the biggest talents in Bulgarian volleyball gained significant experience in one of the strongest leagues in the world.
In his interview, Bryanskiy also commented on Russia's expected return to international tournaments after FIVB's decision to reinstate the right of Russian national teams to participate in official competitions. According to him, the most realistic scenario is for this to happen in the Nations League in 2027, as the calendar for 2026 has already been drawn up, and spots for the European Championship have been allocated. He added that an official decision from the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) is now awaited, which would allow Russia's final return to European competitions as well.

photo: Nikolay Varadinov