Volleyball, World Cup: Ukraine in the quarterfinals, Russia excluded

“If this match will serve to give a smile to our people and our soldiers it will be a great thing.” Oleg Plotnytskyi, captain of Ukraine, with the Perugian soul (he has been playing for years at the Sir vice-champion of Italy) is a happy boy. His team, Ukraine, has just beaten the Netherlands at the World Cup in Slovenia, winning the right to play (Wednesday evening at 9pm) the quarter-finals with the hosts. “Everything went better than what we had dreamed of. We knew we could win this match, but not that it would be so fast. It is a great pride what we did: first for our country and then for us, for the team, for our coach. This journey has been underway for 5 years and now the results are coming. ”

Fate

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Ukraine shouldn’t even have been in this World Cup, not having qualified, but when Russia invaded the country and the World Federation excluded the Moscow national team, ironically, it was the national team with the yellow-blue flag that was rescued. Oleg Plotnytskyi in those early days of the war found himself playing the final of the Italian Cup in Bologna and the entire Bologna sports hall had played the Ukrainian anthem, waving the national flag. Arriving at the World Cup, Ukraine, which is 23rd in the international ranking, certainly did not imagine being able to get that far. Having lost the first match against Serbia, however, Ukraine began to grow game after game and the second place in its group put it in front of the Netherlands after the victories against Tunisia and Puerto Rico. “We knew we had a chance with the Netherlands even though the team is very strong with Ter Horst (his team-mate in Perugia) and Nimir, but that it was very difficult. We repeated ourselves before taking the field that we had to try.”

The dream continues

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Now the dream continues on Wednesday evening they face Slovenia. “We know that they are favorites, they play at home, with 11 thousand people cheering for them, but we are not afraid. I assure you that we will give everything. In life it is not often that we have a chance to reach a world semifinal and we do it. we will play to the end “. Also for the dozens of fans who arrived in Slovenia. “Some even from Ukraine – says Oleg, 25 -. The ambassador also came to cheer us on. We will try with all our strength”. For the team, but first for Ukraine.