Bonifante: “I want athletes to be proud to play for Greece”

Italy’s Dante Bonifande and Samuele Papi will be the technical duo leading the men’s national team. Bonifante said in his statements to volleyball.gr that the athletes should be proud to play for Greece while he talked about his goals.

Bonifante’s statements in detail:

For motivation, he had to take on the men’s national team: “First of all, I would like to thank the FA and President Karabetzos for giving me the opportunity to coach the men’s national team. This is my first time coaching a national team and I am grateful for the challenge. It makes sense for a new coach like “He wants new challenges for me. It’s something special for me to be the coach of Greece. I know a lot about the country, I know players and when I played Greek teams they were always special.”

What he knows about the national team: “I watched all of Greece’s matches at the last European Championship. I watched several Greek championship games while I also watched the Cup Final-4. The National has a squad that combines experience and youth.

I will definitely speak to all the players who have already worn the national team shirt. I want to understand their reasoning, their feelings and their motivation. Of course, we will see what state of health they are in. The most important thing is that the athletes are proud to fight for Greece. “They must be honored to wear the Coat of Arms and fight for their country.”

For national team goals this summer: “In any case, qualifying for the 2023 European Championship is a big goal. The qualifiers in August are very important. The Mediterranean Games will be a good opportunity for younger athletes to gain experience with the men’s national team. We will work with the coaching staff and.” see who “They will be used in the Mediterranean and in the qualifiers. There will likely be a mix of athletes in the two events.”

For his collaboration with Samuele Papi: “Samuele has been coming since the start of the season and has been watching my team train at Volley Prata. Two months ago he officially joined the coaching staff. Papi was a great player and with his experience he can help the players and me.”

If you remember a game against a Greek team: “We played for the Champions League with Piacenza against Panathinaikos in Glyfada in 2010 and I remember the atmosphere on the pitch. It was amazing. I experienced something similar with the Olympiacos fans in 2019, my first year as a member of the coaching staff “Trentino in the semi-finals of the CEV Cup. I love the Greek fans, they are always warm and they support the team and give you a boost”.