Serbia men's national volleyball team

The Serbia men's national volleyball team is the national team of Serbia. FIVB and CEV considers Serbia the inheritor of the records of SFR Yugoslavia (1948–1991) and Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006).[1] Serbia won gold at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and bronze at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Serbia
Nickname(s)Orlovi (The Eagles)
AssociationVolleyball Federation of Serbia
ConfederationCEV
Head coachIgor Kolaković
FIVB ranking9 (as of 2 December 2023)
Uniforms
Home
Away
Summer Olympics
Appearances5 (First in 1996)
Best result (2000)
World Championship
Appearances7 (First in 1998)
Best result (1998)
World Cup
Appearances2 (First in 2003)
Best result (2003)
European Championship
Appearances12 (First in 1995)
Best result (2001, 2011, 2019)

The Yugoslav Olympic Committee declared the national volleyball team to be the best male team of the year in 2000, and the Olympic Committee of Serbia did the same in 2010 and 2013.[2]

History edit

Serbia's most proud moment came at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when under the name Yugoslavia it won Olympic gold. A heavy favourite was team Italy, who won the last three World Championships and the European title in 1995 and 1999, but they had yet to win an Olympic gold medal. They swept through Group B undefeated and won their quarter-final match over Australia. In the semifinals, Serbia & Montenegro (Yugoslavia), runners-up at the 1998 Worlds, and bronze medalists at the 1999 Europeans, triumphed in straight sets, again denying Italy an Olympic gold medal. Serbia & Montenegro had struggled in the pools, finishing only third behind Italy and Russia, but they defeated Russia in straight sets in the final to win the gold medal. As in 1996, all medalists came from the same pool, this time Group B.[3]

Volleyball was brought to Serbia by g. William Viland, a professor of folklore and folk sports from Oakland, California, when the Red Cross held a series of lectures and demonstrations of American sports in Belgrade and Novi Sad. It is believed that his arrival marked the beginning of volleyball in this area, and in 1924 is considered the year when the first volleyball ball came to Serbia. During the period of occupation, between 1941 and 1944, volleyball was played very actively, numerous competitions were held, and more sports clubs/society's had established its volleyball section.

The Serbian/Yugoslav Volleyball Federation was founded in 1946 by the Alliance for Physical Education of Yugoslavia. A year later, in 1947, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was founded and the former Yugoslavia was one of the 14 founders. From 13 February 1949, the Volleyball Federation became an independent sports organization. Two years later, at the European Championships held in Paris, the women's volleyball team of Yugoslavia won the bronze medal for the first time. This success was repeated with the men's event in 1975, when Serbia for the first time in history hosted the biggest European competition, both the men's and women's events. The Serbian team in the last match of the final group defeated Bulgaria in the crowded hall of "Pioneer" in Belgrade and won the bronze medal.[4]

2011 – 2019 edit

In 2011 Serbia became European champion and in 2016 the champion of FIVB World League for the first time, with Marko Ivović being crowned MVP of the tournament and Srećko Lisinac being chosen as the Best Middle Blocker.[5]

2019 – 2021 edit

After two bronze medal 2013 and 2017, Serbia become European champion again in 2019 with Uroš Kovačević being crowned MVP of the tournament.[6][7]

2022 – edit

Medals edit

Event Gold Silver Bronze Total
Olympic Games 1 0 1 2
World Championship 0 1 1 2
World Cup 0 0 1 1
World Grand Champions Cup 0 0 1 1
World League 1 5 3 9
European Championship 3 1 8 12[8]
Mediterranean Games 0 0 1 1
Total 5 7 16 28

Results edit

 
Serbia team in 2008 Olympic

Olympic Games edit

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Games Round Position Pld W L SF SA RT Squad
1964 to 1988 part of Yugoslavia
  1992 Barcelona suspended
  1996 Atlanta Semifinals 3rd   8 5 3 16 14 1.143 Squad
  2000 Sydney Final 1st   8 6 2 21 11 1.909 Squad
  2004 Athens Quarterfinals 5th 6 4 2 13 9 1.444 Squad
  2008 Beijing Quarterfinals 5th 6 2 4 11 13 0.846 Squad
  2012 London Preliminary round 9th 5 1 4 7 13 0.538 Squad
  2016 Rio de Janeiro did not qualify
  2020 Tokyo
  2024 Paris future events
  2028 Los Angeles
  2032 Brisbane
Total 5/7 1 Title 33 18 15 68 60 1.133

World Championship edit

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Games Round Position Pld W L SF SA RT Squad
1949 to 1990 part of Yugoslavia
  1994 suspended
  1998 Final 2nd   12 10 2 31 10 3.100 Squad
  2002 Semifinals 4th 9 7 2 22 8 2.750 Squad
  2006 Semifinals 4th 11 8 3 26 13 2.000 Squad
  2010 Semifinals 3rd   9 6 3 22 13 1.692 Squad
  2014 Second round 9th 9 5 4 18 15 1.200 Squad
    2018 Semifinals 4th 12 7 5 24 21 1.142 Squad
    2022 Round of 16 9th place 4 3 1 9 3 3.000 Squad
  2025 future event Squad
Total 7/9 0 Titles 66 46 20 152 83 1.831

World Cup edit

Year Rank Pld W L SW SL
1965 to 1991 part of Yugoslavia
  1995 did not qualify
  1999
  2003 3rd place   11 9 2 29 10
  2007 did not qualify
  2011 8th place 11 5 6 20 23
  2015 did not qualify
  2019
  2023 5th place 7 3 4 10 13
Total 3/8 29 17 12 59 46

Squads edit

World Grand Champions Cup edit

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Year Rank Pld W L SW SL
  1993 suspended
  1997 did not qualify
  2001 3rd place   5 3 2 9 7
  2005 did not qualify
  2009
  2013
  2017
  2021 not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
  2025 future event
Total 1/7 5 3 2 9 7

World League edit

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Year Rank Pld W L SW SL
  1990 part of Yugoslavia
  1991
  1992 suspended
  1993
  1994
  1995 did not enter
  1996
  1997 7th place 12 8 4 29 15
  1998 6th place 14 4 10 23 32
  1999 withdrew
  2000 4th place 18 12 6 43 26
  2001 4th place 17 11 6 39 23
  2002 3rd place   17 11 6 42 24
  2003 2nd place   17 12 5 44 24
  2004 3rd place   15 11 4 37 20
  2005 2nd place   15 8 7 31 31
  2006 5th place 15 10 5 32 26
  2007 9th place 12 7 5 24 18
  2008 2nd place   16 10 6 39 24
  2009 2nd place   16 11 5 38 25
  2010 3rd place   16 11 5 40 26
  2011 9th place 12 7 5 26 21
  2012 9th place 12 6 6 27 24
  2013 8th place 10 5 5 22 22
  2014 7th place 12 7 5 24 20
  2015 2nd place   16 9 7 38 32
  2016 1st place   13 10 3 34 17
  2017 5th place 11 6 5 24 20
Total 21/28 286 176 110 656 470

Squads edit

 
Serbia fans in 2009 world league

Nations League edit

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Year Rank GP MW ML SW SL Squad
  2018 5th place 17 11 6 33 30 Squad
  2019 11th place 15 6 9 28 36 Squad
  2021 6th place 15 10 5 35 27 Squad
  2022 11th place 12 5 7 19 27 Squad
  2023 9th place 12 6 6 23 23 Squad
Total 5/5 71 38 33 138 143

European Championship edit

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Year Round Position Pld W L SW SL
1948 to 1991 part of Yugoslavia
  1993 suspended
  1995 Semifinals   7 5 2 16 7
  1997 Final   7 5 2 16 7
  1999 Semifinals   5 3 2 11 8
  2001 Final   7 6 1 20 6
  2003 Semifinals 4th 7 4 3 17 11
    2005 Semifinals   7 6 1 20 6
  2007 Semifinals   8 5 3 18 13
  2009 Second Round 5th 6 4 2 15 8
    2011 Final   6 6 0 18 5
    2013 Semifinals   7 5 2 17 9
    2015 Quarterfinals 7th 5 3 2 11 10
  2017 Semifinals   6 5 1 17 7
        2019 Final   9 9 0 27 6
        2021 Semifinals 4th 9 6 3 21 15
        2023 Quarterfinals 6th 7 5 2 16 8
Total Qualified: 16/17 103 77 26 260 126

Squads edit

European Games edit

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Year Rank Pld W L SW SL
  2015 Baku 5th 6 2 4 11 9
  2019 Minsk volleyball tournament not held
  2023 Kraków
Total 1/1 6 2 4 11 9

Mediterranean Games edit

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Year Rank Pld W L SW SL
  1993 suspended
  1997 did not enter
  2001 6th place - - - - -
  2005 3rd place   5 4 1 13 6
  2009 did not enter
  2013
  2018
  2022 9th place 3 0 3 2 9
  2026 future event
Total 2/8 8 4 4 15 15

Results and fixtures edit

Previous matches edit

Forthcoming matches edit

Team edit

Current squad edit

The following is the Serbia roster in the 2023 Men's European Volleyball Championship.[9]

Head coach:   Igor Kolaković

No. Name Date of birth Height Weight Spike Block 2022–23 club
2 Uroš Kovačević 6 May 1993 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 90 kg (200 lb) 355 cm (140 in) 338 cm (133 in)   Aluron Zawiercie
3 Milorad Kapur 5 March 1991 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 305 cm (120 in) 300 cm (120 in)   Partizan
7 Petar Krsmanović 1 June 1990 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 101 kg (223 lb) 354 cm (139 in) 349 cm (137 in)   Vojvodina
8 Marko Ivović 22 December 1990 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 365 cm (144 in) 330 cm (130 in)   Dynamo-LO
10 Miran Kujundžić 19 June 1997 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 90 kg (200 lb) 350 cm (140 in) 320 cm (130 in)   Ślepsk Suwałki
11 Aleksa Batak 18 January 2000 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 346 cm (136 in) 337 cm (133 in)   Partizan
12 Pavle Perić 7 August 1998 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 355 cm (140 in) 335 cm (132 in)   Fenerbahçe
14 Aleksandar Atanasijević 4 September 1991 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 99 kg (218 lb) 360 cm (140 in) 338 cm (133 in)   PGE Skra Bełchatów
15 Nemanja Mašulović 5 October 1995 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 350 cm (140 in) 340 cm (130 in)   ACH Volley
16 Dražen Luburić 2 November 1993 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 90 kg (200 lb) 337 cm (133 in) 331 cm (130 in)   Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
17 Miloš Krsteski 24 February 1993 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 300 cm (120 in) 300 cm (120 in)   Ribnica
18 Marko Podraščanin (C) 29 August 1987 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 101 kg (223 lb) 358 cm (141 in) 340 cm (130 in)   Itas Trentino
21 Vuk Todorović 23 April 1998 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 80 kg (180 lb) 315 cm (124 in) 305 cm (120 in)   ACH Volley
29 Aleksandar Nedeljković 27 October 1997 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 90 kg (200 lb) 350 cm (140 in) 335 cm (132 in)   VfB Friedrichshafen

Coach history edit

Notable players edit

 
Ivan Miljković, one of the most notable players

Kit providers edit

The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Serbia national volleyball team.

Period Kit provider
2000– Asics DAcapo
2017– Peak Sport Products

Sponsorship edit

Primary sponsors include: main sponsors like Poštanska štedionica. other sponsors: Škoda Auto, Radio Television of Serbia, Žurnal, Srbijagas, Posta, EPS and Blic.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball". Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Trofej OKS – Najuspešniji sportisti | Olimpijski komitet Srbije". Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  3. ^ Volleyball at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games: Men's Volleyball
  4. ^ "Istorija odbojke u Srbiji". www.ossrb.org. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014.
  5. ^ Serbia celebrates "Million Dollar Boys"
  6. ^ Serbia triumph with EuroVolley men’s crown too!
  7. ^ "Kovač više nije selektor, promene i u mlađim kategorijama reprezentacije". ossrb.org. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  8. ^ "CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball". Archived from the original on 8 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Seniori Srbije u ponedeljak putuju u Italiju – u sredu protiv Švajcarske". www.ossrb.org (in Serbian). Retrieved 25 August 2023.

External links edit