White-red beat the Olympic champions! It was a performance in Krakow.

Both teams approached Saturday’s match extremely annoyed. Biala Cervoni lost 0:3 to Slovenia on Friday. You could see the tiredness of the vice-champions of the world, who are just after a dozen or so very intense days of training camp in Zakopane. Neither the French. In the fight with the world and European champions, the tricolor did not win a set, only in the first part lagging behind the team of coach Ferdinando De Giorgi.

Bartosz Kurek in the starting lineup for Poland

A few hours before the start of the match between the Poles and the French, the Polish Volleyball Association announced that Mateusz Benek would not be considered for the selection of a team for the European Championship. The mid laner was unable to recover from an injury he struggled with after the VNL Finals.

The situation with Bartosz Kurek looks much better. The team captain also failed to complete the gold of the VNL 2023 tournament at the Tri-City Ergo Arena on the field. The more he could enjoy the sight of “Kuras” in the starting lineup of the “white-red” against the French. In addition, Nikola Grbic bet on: Wilfredo Leon, Kamil Semeniuk, Marcin Janusz, Norbert Huber, Mateusz Poręba and Jakub Popivchak. As you can see, there have been some adjustments since Friday’s defeat.

Thriller at the end of the introductory set at the Tauron Arena

Before the start of the match, the head of the Polish Olympic Committee, Radoslav Pesevich, awarded three world and Olympic champions from Hubert Wagner’s gold team. Gold medals of the Polish Olympic Committee were received by Miroslav Rybachevsky, Ryszard Boszek and Eduard Skorek. The legends were rewarded with a standing ovation from the Krakow public, it was obvious that they were touched.

And on the field? The Poles started with a strong attack, taking the lead 3:0, 6:2, 8:3 or 14:10. In the meantime, a bird/bat flew over the field, which coach Grbic successfully chased away. However, in the case of sports, it was not only Leon who impressed, but also Janusz. The last one was on the pitch 16:14, and after a few moments it became 19:14, after a good game by the whole team.

So what if the Poles, despite the advantage of 24:21, eventually lost the set. Instead of Leon, Bartosz Bednorc appeared on the field, who was supposed to improve the reception. However, this did not happen, and the French began to wind up. It is worth highlighting a player who is well known in PlusLiga (like most of the French team). Yassin Luati not only added an ace (24:24), but also finished off important balls (24:25). The decisive blow was delivered by the player … Projekt Warszawa Kevin Tilly (29:27).

Nikola Grbic’s changes have had a positive effect

The Serbian breeder of the Poles decided to return to the starting position for the second game. The White-Reds started very strong again. It is worth noting the best performance of Semenyuk. Poremba added an ace to the serve, and the hosts quickly left with the result. At 18:10 Grzegorz Lomacz and Bartłomiej Bolondz were also on the field. The latter on Saturday used Grbic instead of Kaczmarek in attack. The tricolors could only nod their heads, and the set ended after 22 minutes with a score of 25:16.

In the third set, Grbic offered to bet … without a nominal striker. On the field, we saw Oleksandr Slivka next to Leon and Semenyuk, who were present earlier. This game has stood the test because White and Red shared responsibility for the game. Judging by the statistics, Leon took four balls, Semenyuk five, and Slivka two. The Poles again built an advantage with the result of 6:2, 11:7, 17:13 or 18:15. In the end, it ended with a score of 25:21, a result that was well controlled by Grbić’s team. Serb tactical ideas worked.

White-red beat the Olympic champions!

The fourth set turned out to be the most even and exciting. The White-Reds remained on the field in the variant with three receivers (i.e. with one “cheater”). But the French introduced the champion of Poland of the season 2022/23 Trevor Kleveno.

After the first part of the game it was only 10:9. Grbić introduced another representative, Karol Klos, in place of Poręba in the game. As for the result, Janusz added an important single block at 14:10. In a moment it was already 18:13, and the fans stood up, supporting the white-reds, pushing them to victory. The Poles won, finishing the match in four sets.

On Sunday, the last day of the tournament in Krakow. The day will start with the match between France and Slovenia (14:00). At the end of the 20th coach Wagner memorial draw, the Byala-Chervoni team will play with Italy (17:00).