The head coach of the Bulgarian U18 men's national team, Miroslav Zhivkov, positively evaluated the team's performance after the group stage of the European Championship in Italy. Speaking to the official website of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, he emphasized that the Bulgarian team overcame one of the most evenly matched groups in the tournament and deservedly qualified for the semifinals.
"We were in a group where all teams were very close to each other in terms of sports and technical capabilities. Anyone could beat anyone. In practice, every match felt like a playoff game. The best thing is that we managed to be one of the two teams that qualified for the final four," commented Zhivkov.
He recalled that Bulgaria started the championship with a win over France, which was followed by a deserved loss to Germany.
"We didn't play our best match against Germany and conceded in elements where we are strong. The important thing is that after that, we managed to quickly stabilize our game, and in the subsequent matches, we showed good sports and technical qualities, as well as mental resilience, which brought us this high result," stated the coach.
In the semifinals, Bulgaria will face Poland, who won the other preliminary group undefeated.
"In the final four, there are no weak teams. Poland is deservedly considered a favorite, but in a semifinal, anything is possible. We will prepare as well as possible, both tactically and in terms of sports and technique. I believe the chances are 50-50. We won't think about who the favorite is, but we will try to show our best game and what we worked on during preparation," Miroslav Zhivkov further told the official website of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation.