Lausanne, Switzerland, April 29, 2019 – Germany coach Andrea Giani has set his team the target of reaching the FIVB Volleyball Nations League Finals after he named a 23-man training squad to begin their preparations on May 3 in Kienbaum.
The team will begin their build-up at the national training centre and will face double world champions Poland in two friendly matches in Gliwice, Poland on May 25 and 26. Their VNL campaign then begins in Jiangmen, China when they take on China, Italy and Iran from May 31-June 2.
Ivan Batanov, Tomas Kocian-Falkenbach, Louis Kunstmann, Lukas Maase, Christoph Marks and Tim Peter will be aiming to make their debuts and help Germany improve on their ninth place finish in 2018 which meant they finished six points outside the top six that advances to the Finals.
“We were close to the final last year,” Giani said. “This year we want to take the next step and fight for a place in the final tournament in the USA. With the tournament in Leipzig, which is also the last preliminary tournament, we have the home advantage on our side. This could become an important and decisive factor.”
The VNL 2019 Finals will take place in Chicago at the 10,000-capacity Credit Union 1 Arena at the University of Illinois from July 10-14.
Before then Germany travel to Ottawa in Canada for week two and take on Canada, Serbia and Australia from June 7-9. In week three they travel to Cannes on the French Riviera where they will face the 2018 runners-ups France, USA and Argentina.
Week four takes place in Cuiaba, Brazil from June 21-23 when Giani’s team play Brazil, 2018 VNL champions Russia and Bulgaria. Germany then hosts week five in Leipzig where they host matches against Portugal, Poland and Japan over June 28-30.
“I am looking forward to the new season,” Giani said. “We have a strong team made up of experienced players and young junior athletes. For me it is important that we continue to grow as a team and that is exactly what we will work hard for in the coming weeks.”
Germany Squad
Ivan Batanov, Noah Baxpohler, Marcus Bohme, Anton Brehme, Christian Fromm, Jakob Gunthor, Simon Hirsch, Lukas Kampa, Denis Kaliberda, Moritz Karlitzek, Adam Kocian, Tomas Kocian-Falkenbach, Tobias Krick, Louis Kunstmann, Lukas Maase, Christoph Marks, Tim Peter, Moritz Reichert, Ruben Schott, David Sossenheimer, Linus Weber, Julian Zenger, Jan Zimmermann