The men's national volleyball team arrived in the Turkish resort of Antalya, where they will play their first matches of this year's edition of the Nations League. Our opponents in Turkey will be France, Canada, USA, and the Netherlands. The tournament in Antalya starts today, May 21st, and will continue until May 26th, with all matches broadcast on Max Sport's sports channels.
The team set off in good spirits, as they are turning the next page in their development – the new head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini began the team's preparation for the long volleyball summer in early May, calling up a large number of new and young players.
Our boys played two friendly matches with the likeable Estonian team in Hristo Botev Hall in Sofia on May 14th and 15th, with the first match open to the public. Unfortunately, our team lost 2:3, thus slightly souring Kiko Blengini's debut, albeit unofficial. In the second match, which was played behind 'closed doors', our team managed to get partial revenge against Estonia, finishing 2:2. The results in the control matches should not be misleading or cause extreme conclusions, as these are precisely the 'arena' for new and inexperienced players who are waiting for their chance to play permanently in the national team.
The test matches with the Estonians were also an excellent test for Blengini himself, because the coach saw firsthand what players he has at his disposal at this moment in terms of match fitness. The Italian must have already started forming tactical tasks for specific players, but this will become clearer in the coming days when the team takes to the court against their opponents in the League.
Gianlorenzo Blengini announced the list of 14 players who will play in Antalya in the first VNL matches:
Setters:Simeon Nikolov and Lyubomir Telkiyski
Opposite:Dimitar Dimitrov
Outside Hitters:Asparuh Asparuhov, Denis Karyagin, Georgi Tatarov, Vladimir Garkov and Samuil Valchinov
Middle Blockers:Alex Grozdanov, Boris Nachev, Iliya Petkov and Nikolay Kolev
Liberos:Martin Bozhilov and Damyan Kolev
It is notable that a solid part of the squad was the backbone of the great youth team from the 2003/2004 generation, led by Martin Stoev, which achieved incredible successes on its way to men's volleyball. The boys from 'The Best Firm' won all editions of the Balkan Championship for juniors in which they participated, won silver medals from EuroVolley U17 2019 in Sofia, as well as from World Championship U19 2021 in Tehran, Iran. Between the two competitions, our team secured another Final Four participation, this time at EuroVolley U18 2020 in Italy, where, due to a lack of luck, they failed to win a medal. The magnificent team also won bronze medals from EuroVolley U20 2022 again in Italy, as well as from the next World Championship, held in Bahrain in the past 2023 for U21, already under the guidance of the Italian coach at the 'Levski' academy, Andrea Burattini. The 2003/2004 generation seems more than prepared and motivated to keep winning at the men's European and world stage.
The captain of this renewed team, full of youth, strength, and desire for self-proving, is the already extremely experienced, but also sufficiently young 25-year-old middle blocker Alex Grozdanov, who has accumulated a solid number of matches in the Italian volleyball elite, still considered the strongest league in the world.
Gianlorenzo Blengini, for his part, took over the team with a great desire for success, and we hope this happens as soon as possible, because volleyball fans are thirsty for new great and victorious series of matches.
The schedule and times of the VNL matches in Antalya are:
Bulgaria – France, May 21, 5:00 PM
Bulgaria – Canada, May 24, 2:00 PM
Bulgaria – USA, May 25, 8:00 PM
Bulgaria – Netherlands, May 26, 8:00 PM
All matches of our boys will be broadcast live on the channels ofMax Sport*
Looking back, we should note that head coach Kiko Blengini was welcomed by some of our volleyball fans with a banner reading "Blengini, ti aspettiamo in Bulgaria/Blengini, we are waiting for you in Bulgaria" in the sports hall in Bologna during the Final Four of the Italian Cup tournament, which took place at the end of January. This should be an additional impetus for the Italian, as new expectations for our national team are associated with him for a successful and long-term process, which by contract is 5 years - until the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
The volleyball and fan community stands behind the team and eagerly awaits the victories of its new heroes! Good luck, boys!
