On Wednesday evening (17 August, 8 p.m., Cosmote Sport 9) the big Croatia-Greece derby will take place in Osijek, which will decisively decide the final placement in the 5th qualifying group.

Our representative group has 4 wins in as many games and if they leave Croatia with the double they will seal first place and qualification, but even a 3-2 loss keeps us on top, while in case of a loss with a clean result we should await the rest of the results in the other six groups.

However, Dante Bonifande, who doesn’t just count the injured Charalambos Andreopoulos, doesn’t accept the ‘final’ term for the game and explained why.

“It’s not a final for us… But it’s a final for Croatia and if they lose, they lose while we still have the game against Norway in Glyfada that can give us qualification,” said the Italian coach and added: “Obviously that doesn’t mean we’re going to approach the game any differently than we’ve played before. We want to play the volleyball we can with the same fighting spirit and I want my players to enjoy this great game. Because every player should enjoy being involved in such important games.”

The national coach believes: “We are ready for this important game, the mood among all the children is great and I believe that we will play a good game. We had our best performance in the first game in Glyfada, but we know that Croatia can play much better. But the same goes for us and I expect a big fight.”

On the same wavelength and statements by Raphael Koumendakis with the Olympiacos international winger, who notes: “We have a very strong and crucial game ahead of us as we chase the top spot in our group with a team that is pretty good in many aspects of their game. We have the psychological part on our side, we are analyzing the changes that the Croatians could have regarding the first game in Glyfada. What is certain is that we will fight as hard as we can for the desired result and I believe that we will succeed.”

Croatia, for their part, with a record of 3 wins and 1 loss (the ones they met in Glyfada) are literally playing their reserves as a second loss will largely mean their elimination, with Greek fans’ old friend Leo Andric addressing people to fill the stadium.

“In Greece we had our worst performance this summer, but now we have a very important one ahead of us. The result of the game will decide whether we qualify for the final of the European Championship or not and I call on all the citizens of Osijek to but also all the Croatians who can come to the stadium,” said the former Ethnikos Alexandroupolis ace.