Preview
I was completely right about North Macedonia’s opening-round clash with Bulgaria. Despite ultimately losing 0-3, North Macedonia remained competitive throughout the match, scoring 17, 18 and 19 points in the three sets. However, the main reason they were able to stay within touching distance was Bulgaria’s underwhelming performance, particularly from the service line. The Bulgarians struggled to generate consistent pressure with their serve, finishing with only 14 aces overall, including 10 in the third set. Given that it was their opening match of the tournament, a somewhat slower start from Bulgaria was understandable.
Ukraine began their campaign with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Israel (25-22, 25-19, 22-25, 25-19). They demonstrated considerable mental resilience and superior defensive work at the net, successfully responding to Israel’s third-set comeback before closing out the match convincingly in the fourth. Ukraine possess considerably more individual quality and are a team packed with international-level stars.
Their biggest name is undoubtedly Oleh Plotnytskyi, one of the most dangerous servers in world volleyball. His ability to generate points directly from the service line and disrupt the opposition’s reception could cause enormous problems for North Macedonia.
As head coach Milenkovski himself acknowledged, North Macedonia’s realistic opportunities to collect points will come primarily against Israel and Portugal. In my opinion, however, they are unlikely to finish the European Championship with a victory. Against the group stronger sides – Bulgaria, Poland and Ukraine, I expect North Macedonia to struggle significantly and believe they are unlikely to win a single set.