Brno saved Prague. The wild travels of the Lions had a happy ending
There are at least two heroes this time and none of them excels over a high network. Miloš Kočka, the leader of the team from the metropolis, did not make a decision when the bus that took the Lions to the match stopped 60 kilometers before the finish. There were two hours left until the race and there was reason to panic. “I think the waiting time is half an hour. Then it is up to the delegate and the opponent how to approach the matter. If they are willing to wait for objective reasons. And of course you have to prove it, “Kočka explained.
Since the driver could not call the dispatch center, he took matters into his own hands. “There is always a solution. Fortunately, the community in volleyball is strong, “he praised.” Thank you very much to Martin Gerž, who sent his driver for us. He brought our two to the hall in Kounicova Street in Brno. match, “he said with gratitude to the owner of Volleyball Brno. “It simply came to our notice then. For example, at the airport in Kiev. It was far more nutritious there, “Cat smiled.
What did he come across? For December 2020, when the Lions won a sensational advance to the six Challenge Cup. However, their journey from Horodok to the Czech capital took 33 hours with a full-day stop at Kyiv-Zhulyany. “It was horrible,” coach Tomáš Pomr described upon arrival.
In the evening, the Lions played a victorious duel, followed by a small celebration and departure from the hotel at four o’clock. This was followed by nine hours on the bus in the direction of Kyiv. “Check-in went smoothly. We were already sitting on the plane, but loading was delayed, “the coach said. That turned out to be crucial.” Those who were supposed to start after us still flew away. Three hours on the plane didn’t put anyone in the mood. His departure pushed the atmosphere to freezing. Only the starting area was worse off. “It looked like an ice rink.”
The lions sat at the terminal and watched as their departure time moved. “It simply came to our notice then. It was warm and clean, “Pomr said. The situation showed up at midnight.” They kicked us into the main hall. No one gave us food, we only got a pint of water all the time, “he said angrily. “We took off our jackets and lay down on the dirty ground. “Cold, discomfort, nerves,” he calculated. In the morning, even the most ardent atheist said, he prayed.
A month earlier, it seemed that the Lions would not even return to the Czech Republic. They were to enter Cup Europe in Latvian Jurmala. But they had been waiting for them for a week on one hotel floor, a locked staircase, food that had arrived by elevator … They caused two positive tests for covid-19. In the end, the match did not even take place, the people of Prague advanced to the next stage thanks to the withdrawal of the opponent from the competition. “We were ripe for collapse,” Pomr admitted at the time, and our arrival in the homeland is already marked as a victory by both positives.
In the end, it wasn’t that dramatic. After all, there was a match and deliveries to the place where the replacement bus was ready to be delivered safely. “We’ll all laugh at the beer one day,” Kočka added.