Cretu to stay on at helm of Slovenia

Gheorghe Cretu and the Slovenian national federation finally reached an agreement and the Romanian volleyball coach will continue to lead the men’s national team of the central European country during the 2023 season, despite an earlier announcement that his contract would not be extended.

“We negotiated with the coach for quite some time. Our interviews had ups and downs. In the end, however, we all managed enough positive energy and will to find an ideal solution for the Slovenian national team,” OZS President Metod Ropret told odbojka.si. “Our experience with Cretu is exceptional. I know that an extremely positive opinion of him is also shared by the national team members and the Slovenian sports fans. This is also why we persisted for so long in the negotiations for his return to the head coach position. I am happy that we have concluded the negotiations successfully.”

Cretu took over from previous coach Mark Lebedew at the helm of Slovenia after the team finished 10th in Volleyball Nations League 2022 and just days before the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, in which he steered the team all the way to the semifinals and a fourth place in the final standings for the first time in the team’s history.

The team, currently number nine in the FIVB World Ranking, has another important season ahead, with VNL 2023 first up in June and July. The Slovenians will play in Japan, France and the Philippines during the three competition weeks of the Preliminary Phase and then travel to Poland, if they qualify for the Finals.

Then they have the CEV European Championship in August and September, which they will start in the pool in Bulgaria, and shortly after the end of EuroVolley, Slovenia will travel to Japan for the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier in September and October, where they will compete with the home team, Egypt, Finland, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkiye and the United States for two spots at the 2022 Olympic Games.

“I am really happy that I will be able to continue working with the Slovenian national team, in a project in which we have all already invested a lot of emotions. Many of those from the last World Championship are still present. They will certainly help us on the way to realizing our dreams and goals, and qualifying for the Olympic Games,” said the 54-year-old coach.

• Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 on VBTV

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