Ljubljana, Slovenia, February 24, 2019 - After parting ways with Slobodan Kovac earlier this year, the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia has appointed Alberto Giuliani as the new head coach of their men’s national team ahead of a challenging season including hosting the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup.
The Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup in Ljubljana in early July will be the first event with Giuliani on the Slovenian bench. His new team will aim to qualify for the 2020 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League. The Slovenians will also take part in an intercontinental qualifying tournament for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Poland in August. They are also eager to play at this year’s EuroVolley starting mid-September in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The 54-year old Italian coach, who has led some of the best Italian clubs, has as many as three Italian championship titles to his name. Giuliani holds Slovenia in high esteem: “Slovenia do not have a wide pool of players, but they have some great talents and I am really looking forward to starting working with them. I would like to thank the President of the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia who offered me this opportunity. I believe we will work hard, methodically and with passion. If we manage to do things in this way, results will naturally follow.”
Giuliani is also the head coach of Turkey’s Halkbank Ankara. He is aware of the intense season ahead with three important competitions: “We will play the FIVB Challenger Cup in front of a home crowd and I feel we have good chances to win. On the other hand, the Olympic qualifier will be difficult, but we have to believe that we can win. The matches we will play this summer will be just perfect to prepare for the highlight of the season, the European Championship in Ljubljana,” he said.
The President of the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia Metod Ropret added, “Having such an experienced and renowned coach on our bench is really important for us. It is even more important that our players see Alberto in this way. He is very ambitious, he wants to win matches and I am sure we will achieve good results with him at the helm of our team.”
The captain of Slovenia Tine Urnaut is looking forward to working under Giuliani: “From the moment we found out that Slovenia will host the European Championship, we are all excited and we can hardly wait to begin with the preparations. We know that the season will be long, but I am sure that with the right team chemistry and with the highest possible level of motivation, we can still improve. I believe that Alberto has the right quality and ambition to help us reach our goals.”
Related article:
Kovac and Slovenia part ways
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