Greece advance to the knockout stage
With Romania’s 3-1 win over Portugal, Greece now finish fourth in Group A and will advance to face defending champion Russia in the round of 16 at the Men’s European Volleyball Championship.
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After Greece’s surprising 3-1 defeat to Portugal on Tuesday, things were not looking too good for the Greek side. They needed Romania to beat Portugal 3-1, in order to have a chance to advance to the knockout stage. Greece also needed to have a better points W/L ratio than both Portugal and Romania in order to advance to the knockout stage, as all teams would’ve had the same sets W/L ratio (5-13) at that point.
Romania defeated Portugal in four sets, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18, 25-23. Greece ended with a 0.894 points W/L ratio, while Portugal had 0.891, and Romania had 0.847. This meant that Greece beat out the other two teams to clinch fourth place. In fact, Greece won 386 points and lost 432, while Portugal won 386 points and lost 433. In the end, one point made the difference and kept Greece’s hopes alive.
After that amazing turn of events in Greece’s favor, the Greeks will now play on Saturday against Russia. The Russians are the defending European championships, and will be heavily favored to beat Greece and advance to the quarterfinals.
GROUP A FINAL STANDINGS:
1. France - 15 points
2. Italy - 9 points
3. Bulgaria - 9 points
4. GREECE - 3 points
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5. Portugal - 3 points
6. Romania - 3 points
Key:
*Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser
*Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser
**Teams in bold have qualified for the knockout stage
ROUND OF 16 MATCHUPS:
France vs. Finland
Italy vs. Turkey
Serbia vs. TBA
Belgium vs. TBA
Russia vs. GREECE
Slovenia vs. Bulgaria
Poland vs. TBA
TBA vs. Germany
