Radostin Stoychev is the most successful Bulgarian volleyball specialist at club level in history. A member of the Coaches Commission of the International Federation, the Sofia native always has something to say when it comes to his favorite game. After a long stay in Italy, he took over the Turkish Halkbank Ankara in an emergency, where he will try to build a new successful project. Setting aside the euphoria from the national volleyball team's performance, "Tema Sport" spoke with Stoychev – for a thorough analysis of the championship and for the truly important question "What's next?"

- Mr. Stoychev, how are you? You started preparations with Halkbank, a new challenge for you – after many years in Italy, you are back in Ankara...
- Thank you, I'm well. Everything here is new, but also a well-forgotten old, because I coached Halkbank 10 years ago. I know the conditions, the championship, the mentality. Now the situation is radically different. Back then, I had the opportunity to bring many players from my previous team, Trento. Now the squad was almost complete when I arrived. I didn't have the opportunity to choose many players. This is part of the game, and we are starting a new project.

- You certainly followed the World Volleyball Championship closely. How would you evaluate the performance of the Bulgarian national team?
- I watched as many of the championship matches in the Philippines as possible. I will watch the rest on recording later. So, I have an idea of what happened at the championship. Our team definitely performed above expectations. Or at least above mine. I thought that the team's logical place for a good performance would be in the top eight. And reaching the final is something huge and exceeds all dreams, even.
- Where did you see the biggest sport-technical growth in this team, if you managed to watch all the national team matches? I'm talking about the period from the Nations League matches, which I saw you at in the hall in Burgas, to the championship final in the Philippines?
- The team grew a lot in several aspects. The formula without a pure opposite hitter significantly strengthened the reception. With Asparuh Asparuhov and Martin Atanasov, the team receives better. On the other hand, this allowed Alex Nikolov to attack from six zones – three times from Zone 4 and two times from the back row. And in this way, he could be fully utilized in his strongest element, attack. The other thing they have definitely worked on and improved is handling difficult or bad balls. The team is very patient compared to previous years and previous competitions. Unforced errors were minimized, with the exception of the fourth set against Italy in the final. But that was logical – in the end, they had to try something. These are the main things I can highlight in our team's play, plus defense. Growth was also seen in defense and coverage, which allowed the team to patiently build attacks until an opportunity was created for Nikolov to attack a good ball. And this was really good throughout the entire championship.
- I know you are not a big fan of talks about calmness, pressure, motivational speeches, I will quote you from a lecture to coaches at NSA: 'Pressure cannot affect you if you are well-prepared and know what is happening in every situation.' So, in this line of thought, our players looked calm throughout the championship, and consequently, prepared. Would you agree with me?
- Of course. This confidence comes as a result of the training process and the game system. It also accumulates with victories. Because when you see that what has been trained yields results – that instantly gives you more confidence. An important factor in this was played by the two Nikolov brothers, who demonstrated great maturity for their age. Alexander's ability to concentrate particularly impressed me. The correct decisions he made in attack in various strange situations. That is, even if he sometimes made a mistake, the mistake was correct. This is characteristic of much more experienced athletes, not volleyball players his age. The same applies to his brother Simeon, who has the ability, even after a bad pass, to have forgotten the previous situation after 2 seconds, which is very important. And both of them gave a lot of self-confidence and calmness to the team.

- How big a step did Bulgaria take in this championship, in your opinion?
- A big step in game development. And this will lead to new self-confidence. How big it is, we will find out at the next major championship. If we can solidify the result, I don't mean playing in another final here, but being among the top 4-5 teams, that would already be something great.
- Your professional coaching career has been mainly in Italy; you have an idea of how the entire process is organized there, so your opinion on the difference between us and them would be valuable.
- The difference between Italy and Bulgaria is like in every sphere of life. There are few similarities. Youth sports there are developed in a completely different way and at a much higher level, with different structures. Children start playing sports from a young age and have a desire to grow. There is a very different culture in sports. Then their junior championships are very strong. It's no coincidence that Italy wins all junior and youth tournaments. The same applies to the women's sector. If we then move on to the federation's structures – different training centers for junior, women's, and men's teams. This ultimately leads to a very high level of preparation, and consequently, a very strong championship. When all these factors are present, it is much easier to create a great team. We, in this regard, do none of these things, so it's a small miracle, even a big miracle, that such talents continue to be born in Bulgaria. And with the lack of such conditions, to reach a World Championship final and play against Italy – that is truly a miracle.

- Nevertheless, we do have some small oases like Levski, where things are done correctly, good conditions for youngsters are created, and a consistent approach is followed. A large part of this national team was built and grew in this club.
- Oh, absolutely. I highly appreciate what Levski and David Davidov are doing. But this is not state policy.

- This is more of an exception to the rule.
- Yes, we are talking about a private investment and a private project. But sport should be a state policy. For the health of children. The culture and ethics of the young generation should be the state's responsibility. And of society in general.

- I'm taking you back to the team's performance in the Philippines and the role played by coach Gianlorenzo Blengini in its growth.
- He found a tactical solution to a serious problem. He tried playing with a classical opposite hitter in the Nations League. He saw that it wasn't yielding results and identified the team's problems. He analyzed them correctly and decided to change the system. It's not that easy to make such a decision. Poland, for example, didn't make a similar one – to play a system with three receivers and without a classical opposite hitter. And if they had, they would have been champions, in my opinion. And the credit here definitely goes to Blengini. He saw where the problem was and found a solution. Moreover, as I said earlier in our conversation, with this, he found a solution for both the reception and Alex Nikolov's attack. And he taught them patience in volleyball. Undoubtedly, the credit for the change in the game belongs to Blengini.
- This patience is actually key in this game. Big teams win critical points precisely with it.
- Exactly. And this was not present in our game before. This is a result of Blengini's work. Make no mistake. The talent, such as the two Nikolov brothers or Alex Grozdanov, who is definitely at a very good level and already very experienced, is there. In certain elements and matches, Martin Atanasov and Asparuh Asparuhov perform excellently. So, we already have a team. We cannot expect to have three phenomena, but we must help the others reach their maximum potential, and this is achieved through the system of play. And for the first time at this championship, they demonstrated it. And I will repeat – this is thanks to the coach.

- For the first time, perhaps in 20-30 years, during the time I have been closely following this sport, everything was subordinated in the name of the team. With the ego isolated.
- Here, there can be no talk of ego, because none of them has won enough to have an ego. That is the point, and it's good. On the one hand, it depends on how the conditions were set from the very beginning. On the other hand, they are young guys. They have nothing to divide. For them, everything is ahead, everything is in the future. They carry no burdens from the past. And this is an important element of the results. But the most important thing is mastery. And if you combine it with team spirit and what you said – suppressing the ego – that's wonderful. But if you have no ego, but also no skills – still nothing will happen. But they started to demonstrate skills. That's the best part. They already look like high-level volleyball players.

- Which we hope will lead to more results in the future, and not just be a fireworks display.
- This should lead to two things. First, many of these volleyball players will be able to find stronger clubs in the future. It is very important for them to play in strong championships and in strong teams. Currently, there are three (Alex Nikolov in Lube Civitanova, Simeon Nikolov in Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, and Alex Grozdanov in Bogdanka Lublin, editor's note). I hope this happens with the others too. This will lead to their further growth. It's not the same whether you play and train at a high level all year round or only during the summer. It will also lead to the growth of younger players, those after them; here, the role is already with the clubs in our country. We have young talents, and there's still more to come from there. And as you said, in the near future, we need to understand if this will lead to more lasting results or if we will miss the moment. However, I want to tell you something else. To a question that journalists repeatedly asked me on Sunday – what would I advise the boys – I don't think I should do it. I don't think anyone else should advise them at all – that's why they have a coach. However, I wished them something – that all people in Bulgarian volleyball understand that when there is success, it brings something positive for everyone. Therefore, they should be united around this result, and not envy it. I wished for this team to feel the support of the volleyball community and for this success to be built upon. This is what would truly have value. If the halls fill up, if there are children, if the coaching profession becomes what it was years ago, and not just a service as it is now. If this happens, these boys, besides the great joy they brought to Bulgaria with their qualification for the World Championship final, will also bring something else – continuation and a future for volleyball in Bulgaria.

Petar Stoyanov, "Tema Sport"