On May 27 at 20:00 Kyiv time, the men's national team of Ukraine under the leadership of the Latvian coach Uģis Krastiņš will play the first official match in 2023.
This will be a match within the group round of the European Golden League-2023. The opponent of the Ukrainians will be the national team of North Macedonia.
Due to the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, Ukrainian volleyball players are forced to play home matches on the territory of another country. This year, the "Cossacks" will be hosted by Poland, namely the city of Łódź, where the debut game of the tournament will take place. We would like to add that the entrance to the matches held at Łódź Arena is free!
Now let's talk about the future opponent.
North Macedonia: this team ranks 43rd in the world ranking, and 25th in the European ranking. While Ukraine ranks 16th in the world ranking, and 10th in the European ranking.
This year, the North Macedonia national team was led by the Macedonian Joshko Milenkoski, who is known for his work with the Greek "PAOK", the Turkish Ziraatbank, and the Turkish national team.
Most of the team's volleyball players compete in the national championship of Macedonia. The most famous players are undoubtedly team captain Nikola Gjorgiev and setter Filip Despotovski.
The composition of the national team of Macedonia:
setters: Gjorgi Jr Gjorgiev, Filip Despotovski;
liberos: Darko Angelovski, Vase Mihailov;
the opposite: Nikolay Georgiev;
outside hitters: Vlado Milev, Aleksandar Ljaftov, Angel Bozhkov, Stojan Iliev, Luka Kostik;
middle blockers: Slave Nakov, Filip Lepidovski, Filip Madjunkov, Filip Savovski.
The composition of the National team of Ukraine:
setters: Vitalii Shchytkov (VC "Prometey"), Yurii Synytsia ("Develi" Turkey);
outside hitters: Oleh Plotnytskyi ("Perugia" Italy), Tymofii Poluian ("Akkus Bld" Turkey), Vitalii Kucher ("Barkom-Kazhany"), Illia Kovalov ("Cuprum" Poland);
liberos: Oleksandr Boiko (VC "Prometey"), Dmytro Kanaiev ("Barkom-Kazhany");
middle blockers: Maksym Drozd ("Epicenter-Podolyany"), Yurii Semeniuk ("Project Warsaw" Poland), Dmytro Teromenko ("Tours" France), Vladyslav Shchurov ("Barkom-Kazhany");
the opposites: Vasyl Tupchii ("Barkom-Kazhany"), Yevhenii Kisiliuk ("Epicenter-Podolyany").
European Golden League-2023. Group stage. Group B
1 round. Łódź, Poland (Łódź Sport Arena)
May 27 (Saturday)
20:00 Ukraine - North Macedonia
We would like to remind you that in the group stage, the men's national team of Ukraine will play 6 matches, two against each opponent: North Macedonia, Belgium, and Croatia. The winner of the group will advance to the final round.
Watch the online broadcast of the match Ukraine - North Macedonia on May 27 at 20:00 on the DIVISPORT VOLLEYBALL youtube channel.
