Serbian Volleyball Federation President Aleksandar Boricic and new Serbian head coach Nikola Grbic
Belgrade, Serbia, March 17, 2015 - New Serbia head coach Nikola Grbic said he was excited to start working with his players when he was presented to members of the press. The Balkan nation will take on Australia, Brazil and Italy in Pool A of the 2015 edition of the FIVB Volleyball World League.
Speaking at a press conference in Belgrade, Grbic said: "This is a new type of feeling for me. I can’t wait to start working with the guys. Everybody has to show me their maximum. I will accept nothing less. We will push hard right from the start. We will do our best, and we will see if it is enough for success. The people I picked to join me in the staff, I know very well. They are very experienced and, like my choice of Camillo Placi, they can help us further improve."
Grbic will be assisted by Camillo Placi, Nedzad Osmankac, Sasa Joksimovic, Dr Ljuban Martinovic, Vladimir Nikolic, and Laslo Lukac.
Grbic won 19 medals with the Serbian national team as a player, including gold at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 and bronze at the Atlanta Games in 1996. He also claimed World Championships silver (1998 - Tokyo) and bronze (of 2010. - Rome), and European Championships gold (2001 - Ostrava), silver (1997 - Eindhoven) and bronze (1995 - Athens, 1999 - Vienna, 2005 - Rome, 2007 - Moscow). In 1997, he was named the Best European player of the year, and in 2013 he was inducted into the "Volleyball Hall of Fame" in Milicz, Poland.
Grbic celebrated by his team-mates at the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in 2010, a competition at which he was named best setter.
Grbic also enjoyed a distinguished career as a club player in Serbia, Italy and Russia. He won two championship titles in Italy (2008 - Trentino, 2010 - Cuneo), and one in Russia (2014 - Zenit). He also won three Italian Cups (1999 - Cuneo, 2000 - Sisley, 2011 - Cuneo), two Champions League titles (2000 - Sisley, 2009 - Trentino), two European Super Cup titles (1997 - Gabeco, 1999 - Cuneo), a Cup winners’ Cup (1998 - Cuneo), a Top Teams Cup (2006 - Piacenza), and a CEV Cup (Cuneo).
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