Despite this, the feeling in the Israeli team is that history can be made, and all six games in the qualifiers will be broadcast live on the sports channel.
Israel was drawn at home with strong Bulgaria and Austria, which is in the same shape as Israel. Whoever finishes first at home will automatically qualify for the European Championships, while the four who finish in second place with the best balance in the home stage will also qualify.
Israel is aware of the fact that strong Bulgaria is a different league, and the battle is mainly for second place against the Austrians. “We are looking for creative solutions for how to best prepare – in-depth familiarity with the rivalry, training matches against the league’s foreigners, a lot of field work and better communication between the players,” said veteran Omri Schwartz, who did not rule out the possibility of finishing this house in the first place: “150 points away. We’ll start with the first point, every game is like a cup final.”
Team coach Noam Katz also sounded optimistic: “Bulgaria is the best of the teams in the qualifiers. Austria was at our level, but has made tremendous progress. I hope we will make the crowd so lacking. We have an opportunity to bring new fans to the industry.”
The opening game tomorrow (21:00) will bring the team together with Austria, which landed in Israel from the corona-stricken country, after partial preparation but with a huge improvement in local volleyball in recent years. “I think we are a better team,” said Slovakian coach Radovan Gčić, “Israel has no superstars, but they work very well as a team.”