The Azerbaijani women's volleyball team hopes to stop its series of failures at the start of the European Golden League. After losing to Hungary and Slovenia with the same score of 0:3 in Baku, our team is waiting for decisive matches in Bratislava. It is these meetings that will clarify whether the team can achieve high goals at the moment.
Idman.biz reports that Faig Garayev's team will face the hosts on June 6.
Although the Slovak team started the European Golden League with a defeat to Greece, they then defeated Croatia. The team's head coach, Michal Masek, said that they analyzed the opponent very seriously before the match with Azerbaijan: "Together with my assistants, we analyzed the Azerbaijani team until 3 o'clock at night. This is a quality team with tall players. It is very important for us to prepare well for our first home game. We have not yet fully analyzed our next opponent, Montenegro, but we will have time for that."
Masek added that the 0:3 defeat to Greece in the first game of the tournament was a "good lesson" for his team: "However, after the unsuccessful start, our team recovered and defeated Croatia. I believe that this will pay off in the home games that are important to us. I believe that there will be many fans in the stands and we will perform successfully in the games against Azerbaijan and Montenegro."
The captain of the Slovak national team, Karin Paltugova, also said that she expects a successful result: "It is always a great honor to play on home ground. These matches will be more emotional, a real volleyball festival will take place. We will win. We believe that the opponents are at our level. It is possible to play against Azerbaijan and Montenegro. We must prepare well tactically, physically and mentally."
It is clear that very difficult games await our volleyball players. The first meetings held in Baku showed that the team has many problems and it is not easy to eliminate them in a short time. Before the Bratislava stage, Yana Doroshenko, the setter of our team, noted that tactical errors and difficulties in reception were the main reasons for losing in the starting games.
It is important to correct the situation and perform better in Bratislava. Because after the first rounds, the Azerbaijani national team is at the bottom of the European Golden League table and it is time to win. Our team will face Slovakia on June 6 and Montenegro the next day.
Zeki Feyzullayev
Idman.biz