The head coach of our national team for boys U18, Desislava Velichkova, captain Petyo Ivanov, and opposite hitter Zhasmin Velichkov, shared their expectations for the upcoming European Championship, which our country is hosting. This happened at the team's practice, which was open to journalists.

The Head Coach: 

"There is responsibility, there is worry, but I hope the boys will overcome this feeling very quickly because we are playing in front of our home crowd. It's not like the previous European Championship \u2013 now the pressure and the expectation to perform well are much greater. The last continental championship cannot be compared to this one. The level of all teams in our group is very high. So, I hope the boys will show what we have practiced and overcome the worry of playing in front of their home crowd ", relatives, and all other people who will come to watch us \u2013 as quickly and in the best possible way."

"My ambition is for them to perform their best in practice; that's where my ambition stops, and in the matches, they play. We coaches are on the outside \u2013 we help in the best way, but on the court, they play. So, I hope they have adopted the ambition, desire, and calmness of the coaching staff so they can perform in the best possible way. We want it very much because the boys have truly trained in the best way over the last month and a half. And they deserve it! They've grown in height, which is very encouraging. They've also grown in terms of playing mentality, technical abilities, ambition, and desire to become worthy volleyball players for the senior men's national team of Bulgaria."

"They are still young; they haven't played at such a high level in front of our home crowd, so each of them must individually deal with the pressure. Here we will see how each one handles the pressure, and I hope they will do well \u2013 we have prepared them. We have talked a lot about this topic; they feel both the pleasant pressure and the obliging pressure, but I think we will do well. They are boys with character."

"Our group is extremely tough; we won't have an easy match. We start with Portugal \u2013 a team that wasn't at the European Championship last year. After that, we go through Ukraine, which has players around 2.10 m tall \u2013 they are a very serious team. One of them is growing and developing in the Italian championship. Then we go through Austria, with whom we were in the same group last year, who have new players. After that comes Finland, which traditionally has a good team and performed well at the last European Championship. Turkey is a tough team, and the icing on the cake are our matches against Poland and France, which are very serious teams. So, a difficult and, I hope, interesting and positive championship awaits us."

The Captain:

"The responsibility is very serious when you play in front of a home crowd, and even more so when you are the team's captain. I don't remember being in such a situation, but let's hope that the presence and support of the Bulgarian public will be a plus for us. We certainly have more confidence after beating Italy twice in friendlies; they are the reigning European champions. We lost to them in the final. I am ambitious because I believe in myself and the team. We must reach and play in the final with our heads held high. The team is set for this \u2013 physically, mentally, and game-wise. Probably the first two matches of the group stage will be charged with the greatest pressure because of the crowd. At the same time, it's like a dream come true to play such a championship at home. I will be happy if the public and fans are satisfied with our game. And to represent Bulgaria in the best possible way, of course!" Ivanov concluded.

The Opposite Hitter:

"Every year we strive to build upon our achievements, and I hope we succeed this year as well. And above second place, there is only one possibility, that is the biggest step. Perhaps pressure is the biggest factor that can hinder us, but I hope we overcome it as a team. I dare say that we are a good collective and we help each other."

photos: Nikolay Varadinov