(ARCHIVE) 1972 | "DINAMO" VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP CUP FINALIST!

Dinamo – finalist of the European Champions Cup! For the first time a team of ours achieves such a victory. It is a notable event in Albanian sport!

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Here is what the newspaper "Popular Sport" of January 11, 1972 wrote about this achievement of our sport. "Our volleyball achieved a victory as important as it was deserved on the European scale. For the first time in the history of the European Cups, one of our teams reached the finals. Dinamo's volleyball players won the right to play for the finals of the Club Cup champions of Europe, successfully passing the most difficult stage – that of the semi-final tournament in Amsterdam. This victory has aroused great joy among sports fans, deeply touched their feelings and will serve as a good example for all other teams. thus showing that our sport has all the possibilities to compete successfully in the international arena… So it is not wrong to repeat that this victory is not accidental: even last year, in this Cup, it reached the quarterfinals. This Dinamo has this composition: Asllan Rusi, Enis Terihati, Kico Lena, Dashamir Fagu, Kreshnik Tartari, Raimond Gjerazi, Hajrulla Berjolli, Shkelzen Hoxha, Vladimir Starja, Ilir Cirinaku and Dajlan Bio ……..

Semi-final tournament in Amsterdam After losing 0-3 with the champion team of Holland, in the other two meetings with the Bulgarians and the Belgians, our volleyball players played very mobilized, played at a good technical level and were often applauded by the spectators. The basic formation of our team, according to the announcements of the editors, was: Rusi, Lena, Terihati, Fagu, Tartari and Gjerazi. The strongest match was the one played against the Bulgarian champion "CSKA" of Sofia, which Dinamo won 3-2. Our team ends the first set 15-11 and loses the second set with the same result. Dinamo also wins the third game 15-11, while losing the fourth game 7-15. In the final of the match, our team had the lead in all directions, deserving the victory of the set 15-5 and the whole match 3-2. In the third match that was played on Sunday (January 9, 1972), Dinamo's superiority over the Belgian champion was even more pronounced and this was shown by the 3-1 result (15-11 / 14-16 / 15-13 / 15- 11). As you can see, with all the resistance of the opponents, Dynamo won the day once again and in this way secured the entrance to the final together with the Dutch champion. Final Tournament! Brussels: February 4-6, 1972 Participating teams: Dinamo, Delta Lloyd, Zetor Brno of Czechoslovakia and Rimini of Italy; Our team played well in the beginning, but badly in the decisive moments. Always based on the newspaper of the time "Sporti Popullor" dated February 8, 1972, we continue the story about this final tournament. It was very cold when Dinamo arrived in Brussels and without a good rest our volleyball players went to the training rooms. The draw was in line with the team's tactical plan. Dinamo won the entry to this final with preparation, with a strong sports game and fight. Regardless of the result, Dinamo felt itself as one of the four best teams in Europe. The first meetings and conversations showed that others also had this appreciation for our Dinamo. Our team was surrounded by many Kosovar immigrants who work and live here and who seem to have seen and known our volleyball players for a long time. One of them wants you to win, the other wants more to have an Albanian primer, while a third wants to extend the cigarette peace. The representatives and leaders of the Dinamo team talk amicably. The chairman of the Arbitration Commission of the International Volleyball Federation and the general secretary of the Cup, Oliver Bruyer, says: "I like your strength and attitude, I like the fact that you have worked in many directions. And doing this in Europe is not easy. Looking at your game, I think you will go even further". The first day, February 4, 1972. It is Friday when Dinamo starts in the evening against the Dutch team "Delta Lloyd". The Dutch respect the Albanian team and meet in the first set as Dinamo leads 7-0. Applause from the spectators, especially for Terihati's stunts, Lana's shots and Fagu's shots. The Dutch get nervous and lose their composure, but Dynamo does not know how to take advantage by making mistakes in the block and in the shot. The Dutch score three points and the game goes 8-7, 10-9 and 12-10 for Dinamo. But at this point, our team is stuck in place, allowing the opponent to score 5 points in a row and losing the set 12-15! The second set also started well. Dinamo leads 2-1; 4-2; 5-3, but then the mistakes come and the situation turns upside down. The Dutch win 15-8. Meanwhile, the third set is a worthy final for the European Champions Cup. The Dutch reach 5-0. Dynamo's coach intervened by introducing Hoxhen into the game, who increased the team's performance. Hoxha himself scores three points in a row, even though he is young and inexperienced. Later, Fagu and Lena equalize the score at 10-10! Terihati and Lena through the block win points and the table shows 31-12 for us, then 14-14, 15-15. It is a spectacular and dramatic set where the ball moves with speed, shots and dives. But the carelessness of the Dinamo team is compounded by a wrong decision by the referee who, at 15-15, did not give a point that Dinamo deserved and could have won the set. The Brussels evening newspaper "Le Suar" wrote: "The lack of tall players in the Albanian team influenced the outcome of the match. In the first and third set, Dinamo's game was balanced with that of the Dutch. To these must be added the fact that the Dutch had four shooters, while Dinamo only had two". And on Friday at dinner, the Czechoslovak champions won against the Italian champions 3-1 (7-15 / 15-2 / 15-10 / 15-12) Second day In the match with the Zetor team, our champion lost the first set 5- 15 to 20 minutes long. The second set lasts just as long, but with a more beautiful game. In the beginning, Dinamo led 4-1 and then it turned around, costing them 10 points (4-11). He recovers something with a better game in 8-11, but in the decisive sets he also loses the second set 11-15. The third set was the set of applause and encouragement from all the spectators for the beautiful game of Dinamo. He leads easily 3-0 and then just as easily allows 3-3. From 4-4, it is 9-5 for Dinamo, which has beautiful moments and in its turn, all the young people were activated to maintain fresh forces in the third match. The spectator applauds and supports Terihati's stunts, double blocks and especially some numbers of Tartar in the short shots (the one who will become in the future the coach of the successful Dinamo for women). The coach reacts, who makes four substitutions for the team. Dinamo continues to play well reaching 10-6, but it is said that our teams lose concentration and this is what happens to Dinamo, which loses 9 points in a row and loses the set 10-15 and the whole match 3-0. In the next meeting between Delta Lloyd and Rimini, the Dutch won 3-1. The third day. In the first set, Dinamo wins against the Italians 15-3 after a very nice game. Score run: 9-1 / 11-2 / 15-3. The second set also followed this path, from 5-5 Dinamo climbed to 10-6, 12-7 and 15-8. For a while Dinamo thought they won the match and the third place, but precisely the victory of the first two sets demobilizes our team. And so in the third set the heaviest loss is 0-15, in the fourth set something better is achieved up to 8-9, but the Italians were more confident in the last actions by achieving a full 6 points in a row and winning set 9-15. In the final set of the match, the game became very balanced: 5-5, 7-7 and the change of courts marks 8-7 for ours. Then again draw 10-10; 11-11 and Dinamo falls back into the usual mistakes of decisive sets. The Italians win this set 15-11 and the whole match 3-2. The last meeting of this tournament, which was also the final between Zetor and the Dutch of Delta, ended with the victory of the Czechs 3-1, being declared European champions for clubs. Ranking 1 – Zetor Brno 2 – Delta Lloyd 3 – Rimini 4 – Dinamo Analiza. As a preparation, Dinamo performed well. The team does not have any big difference from the others, even in some cases its game has variations such as stagnation, short shots, etc. On the contrary, Dinamo goes for the length by having shorter players than those of the other teams that have in their composition two meters tall and close. The Brno team had four such players, the Dutch three and the Italian two. Dinamo had two strong shooters, while the others had four (the whole team had 6). Even the lack of experience in international matches is another shortcoming, add here also the concentration, the confusion of Dinamo in the decisive stages of the match, as is the typical result against the Italians, who from 2-0 with a seven-set lead lose the match 2-3! Experienced teams don't play this "tired" game because they are aware that in the third set, the game can slip away from them, just like the victory slipped away from Dinamo. ____________________ Sports Vision / Hour of Champions Information extracted from the personal collection of "Popular Sport" newspapers – 1972 and adapted for the page in March 2021.