After the main volleyball shock of this year – the transfer of the World Championship among men from Russia to Poland and Slovenia – our federation is gradually recovering and starting to look to the future.

The first step is to address the coaching issue. The women’s team, having a series of inexpressive performances in international tournaments, had to decide on the development vector. For men, the situation in terms of achievements was much better, but pressure from outside did not allow the Finnish coach Tuomas Sammelvuo to continue working with the team.

Despite the difficult political situation, the All-Russian Volleyball Federation achieved an incredible result by agreeing with the brilliant Serbian specialist Zoran Terzic. You can be calm for the women’s team. But a question mark hung over the men’s team.

Loss of Sammelvuo

Many fans still remember the men’s semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics, in which our guys crushed the Brazilians 3-1. And earlier we defeated our sworn rivals in the group, and dry (3-0). Then it seemed that little-known players from France could not oppose anything to such a strong Russian team, which plays under the abbreviation ROC.

However, the second Russian Olympic victory in the XXI century did not happen. We lost in five games, unable to withstand the pressure of the magnificent serves of Ngapet and his comrades.

The memory of these Games, albeit with a touch of bitterness, is a considerable merit of Sammelvuo, the head coach of the team. Silver was a serious step forward against the background of not very successful performances at the European Championship 2019 (relegation to the ¼ finals from Slovenia) and only sixth place in the World Cup of the same season. And although the 46-year-old coach still had a victory in the 2019 Nations League, Tokyo’s second place remained the most striking achievement.

The leaders of the national team were ready to continue cooperation with the Finnish specialist, however, the current atmosphere and pressure on the coach in his home country prevented a positive development for our federation:

– We would like to prolong the agreement with him (with Tuomas – author’s note), but now things are the way they are, – said Alexander Yaremenko, Secretary General of the Russian Volleyball Federation.

The general manager of our team Sergey Tetyukhin supported Eremenko’s opinion:

“Maybe it was expensive from a financial point of view. Maybe that’s why such a decision was made regarding Tuomas. But with Sammelvuo, we won both the silver of the Olympics and the League of Nations. There were no questions as a result. There were, of course, certain questions about the European Championship. Nevertheless, the Russian team achieved good results with Sammelvuo, – said the Olympic champion of London 2012

Who will fill the vacancy?

As a result, a crumpled farewell to the Finn frees up a place in the national team. The only question is to whom? Obviously, not many foreign specialists are ready to take on the management of a team that has been suspended from international competitions for at least a year. In this situation, you should bet on your specialist with high motivation and long-term plans.

And it seems that there is such a mentor. This, of course, is about Alexei Verbov, who heads the Kazan Zenit, which reached the semi-finals of the Super League. There, the team lost to Lokomotiv, but before this misfire, the club’s winning streak lasted 36 matches.

– Verbov, of course, in sight. It is clear that he is on the shortlist of candidates, his work in Kazan is visible. But first I would like to see how the championship will end and how the Spartakiad will go. In decisive matches, not only players, but also coaches can appear, – says Alexander Yaremenko.

Alexey Verbov / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Maxim Bogodvid

In addition to Verbov, there are several other bright coaches. For example, Konstantin Bryansky from Dynamo Moscow, who in 2019 won the EKB Cup and all Russian tournaments with his club. This season, his team also made it to the final.

Alexander Klimkin, Dynamo coach from the Leningrad region, is in full view. The specialist has already worked in the victorious team under Alekno in London, so the atmosphere and responsibility are familiar to him. And most importantly, there is a winning spirit.

Obviously, we will learn the name of the new mentor only at the beginning of autumn. The Spartakiad will be held on August 20-29 in Moscow. But the fight for a place at the helm of the national team should be very intriguing.

Great Terzic

In the women’s team, Italian Sergio Buzato’s contract also expired at the end of 2021. And unlike his Finnish colleague, the 56-year-old specialist cannot boast of Olympic medals, although he started not much worse than Tuomas. Still in the status of acting head coach after breaking up with Vadim Pankov, Buzato led the girls to the bronze of the 2019 World Cup. But the medals for the Russians ended there. At Euro 2019 and 2021, we were knocked out from the Italians in the quarterfinals, at the Olympics-20 – from the Brazilians at the same stage.

Thus, the era of Buzato, who has been in various roles in our team since 1999, is over. In early May, a pause regarding the next coach of the national team was interrupted by the news of the appointment of Zoran Terzic.

– Zoran Terzic signed a contract with the WFV to work with the women’s national team, this year he will be involved in our team. The main team of the country will have a training camp in August. Terzic will be doing his job, now he is closely following the “gold” and “bronze” series of the playoffs of the championship of Russia, – said the head of the VFV Stanislav Shevchenko.

Zoran Terzic / Photo: © Predrag Milosavljevic / XinHua / Global Look Press

The appointment of this specialist is, of course, a great success and victory for our leadership. The Serb, who led his national team with short breaks from 2002 until joining the Russian team, was a tasty morsel for many countries. Under him, Serbia became a top team, and the most striking achievement – the silver of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, will be remembered by our fans for a long time, because on the way to the medals, the Russian team was beaten in the ¼ finals.

“Never worked with Zoran. But we all know how many years he successfully worked in the Serbian national team and works in one of the best clubs in Turkey (Fenerbahce – author’s note). I hope that his arrival to our national team is only for the best, – said Evgenia Startseva, a link between Dynamo Moscow and the Russian national team.

Unfortunately, we cannot yet evaluate the work of the eminent Serb. The decision of the International Volleyball Federation to suspend the national teams is valid indefinitely, that is, until it is canceled. We are missing the World Championship, but the fate of our participation in the European Championship 2023 is still in question. Apparently, Terzic will prepare the team with an eye to this tournament, which will take place in August or September next year. However, the fact that we managed to get a venerable coach during this difficult period is a great help for future victories.