Bulgaria's captain, Alex Grozdanov, made an interesting admission a few days after the painful elimination from EuroVolley 2026. In an interview for the official website of the Polish TAURON Liga, the middle blocker admitted that our national team probably started thinking too early about a potential quarter-final against Poland, before they had finished their job against Germany.
Bulgaria took a 2-0 lead in sets in the round of 16 in Sofia, but allowed a complete comeback and lost 2-3. Grozdanov does not seek excuses for the defeat and gives credit to the Germans.
"It's painful to lose this way, especially on home ground. We had a tough night after that match and probably the next few days will also be difficult, but we have to learn our lessons and approach it differently next time," the captain told TAURON Liga.
According to him, Germany fully deserved their place in the quarter-finals.
"They played incredibly. After losing the first two sets, they managed to come back thanks to their serve, power, and emotion. They deserve recognition. They deserved to qualify for the quarter-finals and overall played better than us."
Thoughts were already on Poland
The most interesting part of the interview comes when Grozdanov is asked about Bulgaria's missed opportunity to meet Poland again – this time in the quarter-finals and precisely on September 22, Bulgaria's Independence Day.
Just a few days earlier, our national team defeated the Poles 3:2 (20:25, 31:29, 25:23, 19:25, 20:18) in their last group stage match.
"I think maybe we were too focused on the future, thinking about the match with Poland in the quarter-finals and looking forward to another encounter against this great team. It's always a huge pleasure to play against the Poles, but it's also an incredible experience," Grozdanov admitted.
Poland also wanted revenge after the group stage loss, which, according to the Bulgarian captain, would have made the potential quarter-final even more interesting.
"However, we failed to qualify and reach another match with Poland. We will see what our rivalry with them will look like next summer."
"Next time we will be less stressed"
Grozdanov also spoke about the other side of hosting. The full stands at "Arena 8888 Sofia" gave the team enormous energy, but for the young Bulgarian squad, it was also a new kind of pressure. "I believe that in the future we will mature and react better in such a situation. We are still a young team and have huge potential. I am glad that we had the opportunity to experience all this at home, because thanks to this experience, in the future we will be less stressed when playing in front of our home crowd," the captain explained.
"This is our biggest success so far"
Despite the early elimination, Grozdanov also sees something much bigger than the result of a championship – the huge interest that the national team managed to generate for volleyball in Bulgaria. "I am truly proud that we managed to awaken such an interest in volleyball in Bulgaria. We see that many children are starting to be interested specifically in volleyball. There are posters with our faces all over Sofia, and you can see how much the whole country lives with volleyball," says Grozdanov.
The captain then makes one of his strongest conclusions in the entire interview: "For me, this is the greatest success we have achieved with the national team so far."
Grozdanov, however, warns that this interest cannot be taken for granted. According to him, it must be constantly maintained, and for that, sports results are also necessary.
A week off and back to Lublin
A short break awaits the captain of Bulgaria. Grozdanov has been given about a week and will then join his club team BOGDANKA LUK Lublin.
"I am really motivated to work. Despite all the unpleasant feelings I carry within me after the failure at the European Championship, I want to return to Poland and play at the highest level," the Bulgarian international stated.
Lublin's first major goal will be the Polish Super Cup against Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, and after that, Grozdanov and his teammates will also pursue reclaiming the championship title.
