Nimir Abdelaziz and his side were strong against the Finns
Almere, Netherlands, 13 June, 2015 – Netherlands coach Gido Vermeulen said that his side had to work harder than yesterday to overcome Finland 3-1 – but that they adjusted well to take the win.
“The Finns played really well in the first set,” said Vermeulen. “They started with Ojansivu, and we had some troubles adjusting to his game. From the second set we started to play better. Our individual skills made the difference at this point. In set three and four we played very well.
“We were able to make long breaks on our own service, and our block was working great. Finland was playing at the World Championships last year, and has a much better position on the world ranking. So I think we can be very satisfied with these two wins.”
Netherlands captain Nimir Abdelaziz added: “We stayed calm when we went down. If we manage to reach our level of play, we are the better team. We showed that in the rest of the match. I think the battle for the first place in this pool is between us and Belgium. But first we need to focus on our next matches against Portugal and Finland.”
Finland coach Tuomas Sammelvuo said: “I’m not blaming my team for anything today. Everybody tried their best, but Holland was just too strong this weekend. We started really well, but from the moment the Dutch started serving better, we got into trouble. Because our reception was not optimal, it was hard for our outside hitters to put the ball on the floor.”
Finnish captain Antti Siltala said: “Today’s match was pretty much the same as yesterday’s, although our good start lasted longer in this match. Just like yesterday we had too much trouble controlling the Dutch services.”