Bulgaria
Even though both teams were already qualified for the final round taking place this mid August in Ankara, Turkey, the home heroines of Bulgaria started out very motivated and evidently asserted their intention to finish it off with another success. They eventually needed only 69 minutes to edge their opponents on their national holiday and celebrate their successful campaign with a folk dance accompanied by popular Bulgarian music.
In the other match of the day – that was anyway not going to have any impact on the qualification for the final round of the European Championship – Croatia beat Finland 3:1 (31-33, 28-26, 25-23, and 25-11). The first couple of sets were very close and long, but after Croatia got up 2:1, Finland gave up completely thereby paving the way for an impressive 25-11 for Croatia in the fourth and last set of the game.
