European Golden League-2023. Group stage. Group B
4th round Zadar, Croatia
June 11 (Sunday)
Croatia – Ukraine – 0:3 (17:25, 21:25, 22:25)
Starting line-up of the national team of Ukraine: Tupchii, Shchytkov, Semeniuk, Teromenko, Kovalov, Plotnytskyi, Kanaiev (l), Boiko (l). Substitutes: Shchurov, Poluian.
Before the start of the match, the absence of spectators in the stands of the Dvorana Krešimira Ćosić arena caught the eye. Perhaps this affected the mood of the Croatian team because they started the match of the fourth round of the group stage of the European Golden League 2023 very "slackly".
As in the previous match, the "blue-yellow" team immediately used their powerful serve, which turned out to be extremely difficult for the home team (4:0). To a number of aces, the Ukrainians added effective attacks by Vasyl Tupchii, Oleh Plotnytskyi and the first paces by Dmytro Teromenko and Yurii Semeniuk (23:15). In addition, during the entire opening set, Croatia made several mistakes. It was a "bad serve" that the opponent ended the first set in our favor with - 25:17.
The second set also initially went according to the scenario of Uģis Krastiņš's team (17:11). However, the Croats were able to enter the game just on time: they "knocked down" our team's reception several times and attacked aggressively (17:21). However, the setter Vitalii Shchytkov today understood very clearly to whom and in which way the pass should be given. First, he "loaded" the opposite Vasyl Tupchii, and at the decisive moment entrusted the attack to Illia Kovalov - 25:21.
The third set seemed a little more difficult for the wards of Uģis Krastiņš: they lost the pace of the game, but the Croats skillfully took advantage of it and even gained a small lead for the first time in the match (12:14). But our "Cossacks" know how to fight for every point and once again proved that they have an incredible fighting character. First, the Ukrainians equalized the score (15:15 – 19:19), and later they blocked perfectly and played excellent in defense (22:19). In the end, the Croatian volleyball players made a mistake again, allowing the Ukrainians to score the 25th point - 25:22 and 3-0 as a result.
This is the fourth "easy" victory in a row for the Ukrainian volleyball players, which ensures them a place in the "Final Four" of the European Golden League 2023. Previously, the "Cossacks" defeated North Macedonia (3:0), Croatia (3:0), and Belgium (3:0). Our team continues to lead the standings of Group B, having the maximum number of points - 12.
On June 18 at 20:00 Kyiv time, our national team will play against Belgium. The match will take place in the Polish city of Łódź at Arena Łódź. The entrance is free!
Watch online broadcasts of all matches involving the men's and women's national teams of Ukraine on the YouTube channelDIVISPORT.
