Captain of Ukraine’s national volleyball team, Yurii Semeniuk, responded to the wave of criticism on social media that followed the “blue-and-yellows’” loss to Belgium (0:3).
As a reminder: Ukraine lost their opening group-stage match of the World Championship to Belgium, but then beat Algeria in straight sets.
“And do you think this victory won’t receive negative criticism? It always will, and it already does. Our people simply don’t know how to cheer, how to rejoice, or how to accept defeats. This is sport — we are human too. Sometimes things don’t work out for us on the court. But people at work also don’t always succeed in everything, right? One must learn how to criticize and how to accept all the situations happening in the world,” Semeniuk told Suspilne Sport.
Raúl Lozano’s team will play their next match on Thursday, September 18, at 16:30 against reigning world champions Italy. For Ukraine, it will be the decisive clash in Group F. A win with any score will secure the “blue-and-yellows” a place in the playoffs. Online broadcast.
“No one is lowering their heads or hands. We’ll be reviewing our own game against them first of all — what worked for us against them. We’ll also watch how they played here, since not all of their players from that previous roster are present. We’ll try to impose our own game, serve strongly, and make a few monster blocks. The guys joked that we should eat pasta before the match,” added the captain of the “blue-and-yellows.”
