Ukraine wins Volleyball European Golden League title for second time
Photo: CEV
At the 2024 Golden Euroleague final, Ukraine's volleyball team emerged victorious over Croatia's national team.
Suspilne Sport reports this.
The Ukrainian team emerged victorious in the final, defeating their opponent in four sets.
The final score of the match between Croatia and Ukraine was 1-3, with the sets being 25-23, 19-25, 26-28, and 19-25.
It should be mentioned that the Ukrainian team, under the leadership of new coach Raul Losano, made it to the final four in their first tournament. They climbed from third place in the rankings with four wins in six matches. In their journey towards the final game, the "blue-yellow" defeated the Czech Republic in three sets (3:0).
Prior to the meeting with Ukraine, Croatia had a perfect record in the Euroleague season, having won all of its matches. With six wins, Croatia was ranked first in the regular championship table. In the semi-finals, Croatia narrowly defeated the Estonian team with a 3–2 tie-break.
Photo: cev.eu
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In the first set, the Balkans played more actively and were actually ahead throughout the entire game. At the equator of the first set, the Croats' advantage was six points (17:11). The Ukrainians managed to reduce the deficit to a minimum on set balls, but the Croats closed the game with a score of 25:23. The national team of Croatia did lead in the score.
But in the second match, Ukraine took control. The players under Raul Lozano consistently stayed ahead of the Croatian team, and the Croatians struggled to catch up. However, the "blue and yellow" team played more confidently and finished the game with a 6-point advantage.
The third set turned out to be the fiercest. At first, the Croatian team was among the leaders. However, from the middle of the game, the Ukrainian national team played more actively. In the battle for two draws in a row, "blue-yellow" were smarter. By the score of 8:15, the Ukrainians won nine of the next ten draws, leveled the deficit, and won the set with a difference of two goals (28:26).
The intense finale of the third set clearly had a detrimental impact on Croatia. The hosts struggled against the Ukrainian volleyball team in their journey towards triumph. At its height, the "blue-yellow" team had a 10-point lead. In the end, a string of five points allowed Ukraine to regain the advantage and ultimately secure the victory with a score of 25:19.
Therefore, Ukraine's national team triumphed in the European Golden League for the second time ever. The previous achievement by the "blue and yellow" was in 2017. The Losano-led team has also advanced to the Candidates' Cup, where qualification for the Volleyball Nations League will be decided.
It is worth adding that this is the fifth award the Ukrainians have received at the tournament—in addition to the "gold," the national team also won two "silver" medals in the 2021 and 2023 seasons and bronze medals in 2022.
Regarding the number of titles, Ukraine's men's national team equaled the women's team, which won the Golden Euroleague twice in 2017 and 2023.
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