At the European Championships, the national team can again count on DVV star Georg Grozer. Driven by the big Olympic dream, the 38-year-old is making his comeback.
Georg Grozer has experienced a lot in his volleyball career. But when the veteran thinks about showing up at the Olympic Games in Paris with his daughter Leana, even he gets enthusiastic. “Of course you dream of something like that. We also talked about it, that would be perfect“, says Grozer: “For me, that’s a huge motivation.”
Grozer – Comeback after two years
And a reason for the 38-year-old to put on the national team jersey again just in time for the European Championships (August 28 to September 16) after around two years. Because at the tournament in Italy, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Israel, the selection of the German Volleyball Association (DVV) from Wednesday is also about important world ranking points that can be decisive for the Olympic qualification.
But there is still a long way to go before the family trip to Paris can be planned. For one thing, Grozer’s daughter made her senior national team debut just a few weeks ago at the age of 16 and “who knows if the little one will make it again next year“, explains Georg Grozer. On the other hand, the ticket for the summer games for both DVV teams is still a long way off.
DVV recently disappointing
Especially for the men, it was anything but smooth recently without their star Grozer, who took a break in the national team after the EM 2021. In the Nations League, the team of national coach Michal Winiarski only managed three wins from twelve games at the start of the season, and the targeted final tournament was clearly missed.
But now the DVV team can count on Grozer again. “George is our fixed star”, says Captain Lukas Kampa. The diagonal attacker is “the ultimate crunchtime player. You don’t have to talk about it for long, he saved our butts in important tournaments at important moments.”
Grozer leaves no doubt that he can still do that despite his age: “I’m still very fit, I can still keep up with everyone and accomplish the task like before. That’s why I’m back“He’s there for the team”mentally and on the field” to help.
First game against Estonia
In Italy, the DVV team will play in Group A against Estonia on Wednesday (6 p.m.). After games against Switzerland, Belgium and Serbia, the world champions and defending champions Italy are waiting in front of their home crowd (all “Sportdeutschland.TV”). Always in the back of your mind: The “Pressure to move up the world rankings‘ Kampa explains.
Next year, five starting places for Paris will be allocated via the ranking. This possibility would become the world number 15. Germany like to keep open if it doesn’t work out in the difficult qualifying tournament in autumn.
Big Dream Olympics
Because the Olympics are and will remain “the big dream, of course“, emphasizes Grozer, who has hope despite the starting position: “If we work hard and believe we can do it, I see an opportunity.“