Serbia and coach Nikola Grbic set their sights on the 2017 World League and Tokyo 2020
Lausanne, Switzerland, May 30, 2017 – “Our goal is to reach the Final Six,” Serbia coach Nikola Grbic said. “We are out to defend our gold medal and we will do anything to achieve that goal.”
Serbia can look back at a historic triumph in last year’s FIVB Volleyball World League and will now be looking to back up that extraordinary performance by getting their Tokyo 2020 Olympic project off to a successful start.
The players showed exactly this attitude during preparations for the new season with the national team.
Serbia have a hectic 2017 season, which kicked off on the final weekend in May with a successful campaign in the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship qualification.
Quick links - Volleyball:FIVB Volleyball World League 2017FIVB.com - VolleyballFIVB.com
Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesTheir goal is to pick up another medal at the CEV European Championship in Poland from August 24 to September 3. They will open the tournament against hosts Poland in front of an expected crowd of 70,000 in the national football stadium in Warsaw, which will provide a unique atmosphere and a great acknowledgment of their triumph in last year's World League.
Key players from that historic success such as MVP Marko Ivovic and best blocker Srecko Lisinac are once again part of this year’s squad, but there will also be a number of new faces in the team.
Grbic sees the year following the Olympic Games as the start of preparations for Tokyo 2020. Having missed out on qualification for Rio 2016, this becomes top priority for the Serbians.
“I wanted to rejuvenate the national team and form a team that will play in Tokyo 2020,” Grbic said. “The fact that we are still young does not mean that we will not be ambitious in 2017.”
Top player Aleksandar Atanasijevic, who missed the final round of the 2016 World League, will be back in the line-up.
“We want to take advantage of the potential that we have,” Ivovic said. “I believe we play tournament after tournament the best we can and that the results will be good.”
Serbia will have home advantage in Novi Sad for the World League on the opening weekend, when they face Olympic bronze medallists USA, Belgium and Canada. They will then head to Tehran, Iran and Cordoba, Argentina, where Grbic will again be keen to test new players.
However, the goal remains to be in the final round from August 4 to 8 in Curitiba, featuring the top six teams. The hosts are record champions Brazil, who were denied a historic 10th title in last year’s final by Serbia.
The victory had a touch of magic to it. After being dubbed the perpetual runners-up, Serbia finally won the title after finishing second five times – in 2003 and 2005 as Serbia and Montenegro; and in 2008, 2009, 2015).
Serbia defeated Poland 3-1 in the final round, then defeated 2015 champions France 3-2. Serbia dispatched Italy 3-2 in the semifinal, followed by their 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-21) win over Brazil in the gold medal match.
“We train very hard every day, much harder than we trained the year before or ever,” Ivovic said. “We reached the point when we trained in the gym with temperatures of 38 degrees. We managed to finish the training after two and a half hours and I told my teammates that we will remember this moment when we get the job done.”
They indeed got the job done and added a new chapter to the history of Serbian volleyball. Their hope this year is to add a new chapter to that success story.