The best Macedonian volleyball players defeated Croatia, again in five sets, as it was in the last two duels in the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2018 and in 2021.

But now in the group stage of the gold segment of the CEV continental competition, and with that they broke into second place in the table behind the leading Ukraine.

The selector Joshko Milenkoski stated that this was a dramatic match against the Croatians, as he expects to have at the European Championship (28 August – 16 September 2023), that it will not be easy.

– We need to be ready for such difficult matches. There were good and bad sides, we had opportunities to win the game with 3:0, and then we came back after a negative result of 3:1. When two equal national teams play, there are moments like this. In the end, we showed some character, some composure, we focused in the last set, and that's what makes me especially happy, because we'll have moments like this right at the European Championships. Since we didn't have friendly matches before the European Golden League, we decided that these duels would be control matches that would show us how we can play against a certain opponent, how to build the game. There is still a lot to work on, we should be satisfied, we defeated two strong national teams that will participate in the next European Championship - says Milenkoski.

According to our strategist, the upcoming visits will be difficult, defeats and victories are an integral part, but at this moment not so important, the priority is the European Championship 2023. If there are games like this and with victories, it can be said that the team has quality, character and that he will deservedly play in the continental gathering in order to achieve a good result.

Macedonia will play the next two games away in Belgium (June 10) and in Croatia (June 14), and we will host Ukraine in the last group stage match on June 18.