© VDB
The Belgian volleyball men (FIVB 22) started the European Championship on Thursday evening with a 1-3 defeat against outgoing European champion Serbia (FIVB 9). The set positions in Krakow, Poland, were 13-25, 18-25, 25-21 and 20-25.
Valerie Van AvermaetSource: BELGIAN
Until next Tuesday, the troops of national coach Fernando Munoz will play five matches in group A. Friday (5:30 pm) they will meet Portugal (FIVB 40), Saturday (5:30 pm) Greece (FIVB 34), Monday (8:30 pm) the host country Poland ( FIVB 2) of Vital Heynen and on Tuesday (8:30 pm) they will close against Ukraine (FIVB 24).
Earlier in the day, Ukraine defeated Greece 3-2: 22-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-19 and 15-6. Reigning world champion Poland was 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19) too strong for Portugal.
The top four of the four groups advance to the eighth finals. They will be completed between 11 and 13 September. The final will take place on September 19 in Katowice, Poland.
In addition to Krakow and Katowice, Gdansk is also a host city in Poland. In addition, the Czech Ostrava, the Finnish Tampere and the Estonian Tallinn are played.
Two years ago, Serbia won the European Championship by beating Slovenia in the final. The championship was then partly organized in Belgium, with Brussels and Antwerp as host cities. The Red Dragons finished their group in second place but then lost to Ukraine in the eighth finals.
In 2017, Belgium lost the bronze medal against Serbia. It is the sixth European Championship participation in a row for the Dragons.
(Belgian)
