Men’s volleyball team falls short at the European Championship

The Greek men’s national team failed to make the cut for the last 16 of the European Championship, as it lost 3-1 to Portugal on Wednesday in Poland for its fifth loss in as many group games.

The players of coach Dimitris Andreopoulos went into the last group game knowing that victory by 3-0 or 3-1 over the Portuguese would see them snatch the fourth and final ticket from the pool to the second round of the finals, but even though they leveled the score at 1-1 (22-25, 26-24) they did not manage to beat a team that was no better than them.

Still, Portugal showed more confidence to win this decider as it took the third set 25-20 and the fourth 25-22.

In general Greece had a fairly decent showing in the finals, collecting two points from the games against the Ukraine and Serbia that it lost 3-0. It also lost 3-0 to Belgium and 3-1 to title favorite Poland.

While this was never going to be the tournament that would see Greece shine on the European stage, it may well prove to be the necessary springboard for a new generation of players who had the first taste of the action at its top level in Europe and could make the difference in the future.