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The match that's worth fight for the medal

One of these two teams will be out of the Eurovolley after this match and that would mean that it hasn't met their expectations

After the three group matches Poland is in second place with two wins and one defeat. The key one was the 1-3 defeat against the France, but in other of their two matches the Poles failed to impress. They struggled against the Turkey and Slovakia, and the support from the stands proved to be the two bladed sward. They played their last match against Slovakia and they had the imperative to win that one to avoid Russia in the final sixteen and they succeeded in that. They didn't start the match the best way, and in the first two sets the Slovaks were equal opponent and the match was open.

From the third set on, we saw better, more efficient Poland, their hitters started to work, and with Jarosz on the place of the opposite, they got the effect they wanted. Receiver Kurek is the best player in the team for them so far, captain Mozdzonek also played significant role, and the selector Anastasi rotated practically all players in the matches so far.

- I'm very pleased with the victory over Slovakia, because we accomplished that with the great contribution of our players from the bench. We're advancing from match to match, and that's very important for the round of sixteen. Tonight our players showed character and fought bravely for the national team and we have 12 equally important players - said Anastasi after the match against Slovakia.

For Poland today's match is of great importance. Their goal before the tournament was to reach the semi-finals, and so to drop out of the tournament in the last sixteen would be a disaster for them. The pressure is something that the Poles must get used to, it surely won't be easy in the first "elimination" match, but yet again they will have a huge support from the stands.

Captain Mozdzonek pointed out:

- We made a step forward in comparison to the first game, we play better and that's very important. We got the confidence that we urgently needed because two tough matches are ahead of us on the road to the semi-finals. However, now we have to concentrate on the next game, Bulgaria is a good team and we will have to play at a high level for the reach the quarterfinals.

Bulgaria earned their place in the round of last sixteen with one win and two defeats in the "death group". They beat the Czech Republic with no problems and after that they were defeated by Germany and Russia. Against the Germans they managed to win a point even though they were the better team for the most part of the match and there they gambled away their chance for better position other that third place. With Russia it was a different story, they were in an inferior position throughout the match and despite winning the set they were not even close to victory. However one should not forget that selector Placi rested Nikolov and Skrimov, standard players up to now, and gave a chance to Valentin Bratoev, Penchev and Todorov.

- Russia demolished us with their serves, we had plenty of problems on the reception and didn't manage to play our game. We made too many mistakes in such important department - said captain Todor Aleksiev.

Considering that they couldn't play against the Russia in the round of last sixteen, Bulgaria got the most difficult opponent. Besides that they are the hosts of the tournament, the poles have the best team among all in the round of last sixteen and they have a difficult task ahead of them. Bulgaria has heavily depended in the last three games on Sokolov, the rest of the team "worked" for him, but against Poland other players will have to contribute more. The biggest problem for Bulgaria is mistakes on serve, they really take too much risk when serving and that didn't pay off so far.

- It is a pity that we did not beat Russia and played with Slovakia in the round of the last sixteen. But what's done is done, ahead of us is tough match against Poland, but we will give our best and fight. We have no other choice. We do not want to say goodbye to the Eurovolley at this early stage, but I am aware that we have to play the best match so far - said the Bulgarian coach.

The game between Poland and Bulgaria is by far the best match in the round of 16, and one of these teams will be eliminated today, and I don’t believe it will be the home team.
The fact is, Poles will be under a lot of pressure, but Bulgarians are also under almost the same amount of pressure, and the home team will have the support of a full Ergo Arena. It’s true Poland didn't play brilliantly in the group, but I do not believe the host of the competition and a great volleyball country would be eliminated in the round of 16. I would be convinced if they were playing against Russia or Brazil.
In the last three years, Poland and Bulgaria played against each other on every big competition, Bulgaria won five times in seven matches, but almost all of them were “not important” matches in the group. On the other hand, Poland achieved their two wins in the knockout round.
Bulgarian players Skrimov, Yosifov and Sokolov have had minor problems with injuries, but all three will be ready to play today. The organizers gave the Bulgarians a pretty unpopular training time in the Ergo Rena, and we have to count in the time needed to travel from Gdynia to Gdansk. It’s worth mentioning the Ergo Arena is twice as big as the one in Gdynia, and the pressure from the stands will be enormous.
Although this has nothing to do with sports, I think the referees will be inclined to the Poles, since they are the host. All things considered, I believe Poland will win today’s match. With a smaller stake, because it is a hard match, but I pick Poland.