Andrea Giani and the German Volleyball Association (DVV) have agreed on a contract extension for the upcoming national team season. Giani, whose contract had already been extended by another year in 2020, is starting another season with the German team, with highlights including the FIVB Volleyball Nations League and of course the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in Russia.
VNL 2022
Andrea Giani to lead Germany in 2022
Published 04:00, 03 Feb 2022
In 2021, Germany went from 21st to 16th in the world rankings and qualified for the World Championship. The team also finished sixth at the European Championships, losing to winners Italy in the quarterfinals.
"We got together at the end of the year, analysed the performance of the last few months and decided to continue together," said DVV Volleyball Sports Director Christian Dünnes. "The DVV and Andrea Giani have a very good basis of trust. We really appreciate the cooperation on both sides. For us, the contract extension by one year means that we want to continue with the same pressure and increase in performance. Andrea Giani and I want to send the signal that every single game, every day of training counts, so that we can continue to develop in the same way."
When Giani extended his contract at the end of 2020, he had already said that he wanted to ensure consistency across all competitions. That continues to be the goal as Germany gradually strengthen their position. "We qualified for the World Championship this year, which means a lot to me," said Giani. "Also because it means we worked very hard in 2021 to get that opportunity. The past year has been a confirmation for us that we can only achieve our goals if everyone works together, extremely focused on what we need to do and not what we could do to show our best volleyball. I want to continue working on that with the team. Our goal for 2022 is to move even further up the world rankings. The Volleyball Nations League will be very important in terms of preparing a well-rehearsed team and producing the best possible performance at the World Championship."
World Championship on the horizon
After missing the 2018 World Championship, the German team want to make their mark on this season's edition from August 26 to September 11, and challenge their opponents in the group stage. They have a challenging draw to look forward to including Olympic champions France, vice European champions Slovenia and Cameroon.
Captain and setter Lukas Kampa, who missed last season due to injury, signalled his willingness to help the team: "My goal is to remain part of the team and to be part of it in the summer. At my age, the Volleyball Nations League means "surviving" and then, ideally, we will be able to take on the World Championship at full throttle. Of course, one requires the other. Health will still be a top priority for me and I have to see how fit I can come out of the season and how much I can do in the summer. At the moment I feel very, very good and as a result would like to offer and contribute everything I can in the summer.”
In view of the challenges of the season, Kampa sees a opportunities for Germany: "Some of us are having a great season. And the hope that Georg will be there next summer is there, which also plays a role for me. I am very happy that we are continuing with Andrea. We still fit together very well personally but also as a team and working together is fun. I think many of us feel like we still have something to prove to him and to ourselves and we want to achieve more together. The World Championship with the preliminary round group will certainly be difficult, but we still have the goal of going far again.”
