Serbia will begin their 2017 World League campaign against the United States on June 2
The two got their offence and defence working in tandem in 2016 to give Serbia its first ever World League title. This season, Ivovic and Lisinac are likely to lead the pack of the solid Serbian starting unit, which should also include Uros Kovacevic, Nikola Jovovic, Luburic Drazen and Marko Podrascanin.
The 2016 FIVB World League individual award winners: (L-R) Wallace De Souza (BRA), Mauricio Souza (BRA), Simone Giannelli (ITA), Marko Ivovic (SRB), Srecko Lisinac (SRB), Jenia Grebennikov (FRA) and Antonin Rouzier (FRA)
Serbia are among the seven-strong European contingent in Group 1, along with Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Poland and Russia.
Belgium coach Vital Heynen will hope to count on top-scoring stars Sam Deroo and Gert Walle, while Bulgaria will have hard-hitting Tsvetan Sokolov and Todor Skrimov.
France will try to move forward without their top scorer Antonin Rouzier, who announced his retirement after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The 2015 World League winners will try to sustain their rise in men’s volleyball with the likes of Earvin Ngapeth, Benjamin Toniutti, Nicolas Le Goff, Kevin Le Roux and Jenia Grebennikov.
Italy, who lost to France in the bronze medal match in straight sets last year, will have a revamp of their line-up. They lose their top wingmen Ivan Zaytsev and Osmany Juantorena this year, but will count on brilliant playmaker Simone Gianelli to orchestrate their offence.
Italy's Simone Gianelli will be a player to look out for in the 2017 World League
Poland are likely to retain their top players headed by Michal Kubiak and Bartosz Kurek, while Russia will play without their best scoring tandem Dmitriy Muserskiy and Maxim Mikhaylov.
The defending champions will face their 2016 rivals Brazil and other tough opponents like Argentina, Iran, Canada and the United States.
Bruno Rezende, Wallace De Souza and Ricardo Lucarelli lead the Brazilian roster. The South Americans will hope that their Rio 2016 gold medal win will rub off on their 2017 campaign with new coach Renan Dal Zotto at the helm.
Another South American powerhouse, Argentina, will continue their quest to develop. Velasco called up a mix of new players and veteran players, only without their best player Facundo Conte.
The lone Asian squad in the top-tier group, Iran, are likely to showcase their finest players including Mir Saeid Marouflakrani, Seyed Mohammad Mousavi and Amir Ghafour, along with some young players that will try to adapt to a new system led by Serbian coach Igor Kolakovic.
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Canada, who won last year’s Group 2 finals, will also go through some adjustments with new coach Stephane Antiga. On the playing end, Joseph Gordon Perrin and Nicholas Hoag should take over the scoring responsibilities of Gavin Schmitt, who retired after Rio 2016.
Canada’s NORCECA adversaries USA are likely to introduce new names in their line-up, as main hitters Matthew Anderson and Aaron Russell will not be suiting up for the team this year. Nevertheless, USA will still be a tough side to beat with Micah Christenson, Taylor Sander and Erik Shoji running the offence and defence.
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