The ball Grbić took home from Milan

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There was a moment immediately after Poland’s victory over France in the EuroVolley 2026 final that could easily have gone unnoticed amid the celebrations.
The players were embracing, the crowd was celebrating and the Polish team had just secured a second consecutive European title with a 3-1 victory over France at the Unipol Forum in Milano and…in the middle of it all, Nikola Grbić did something rather unexpected: the Polish head coach picked up one of the balls used during the final, opened his backpack and put it inside.

The cameras caught him doing it.

It did not take long for the images to make their way onto Polish social media, where the reaction was mostly humorous. Some joked that the ball would soon appear for sale on OLX, while others admitted they would have done exactly the same thing.
But Grbić had no intention of selling it.
The ball had landed in his hands at the most appropriate possible moment: immediately after the final attack of the match, a winning hit by Tomasz Fornal that completed Poland’s 3-1 victory and confirmed their status as European champions!

A few days later, Grbić explained the story himself: “I’ve never done that, but this ball, after Tomek Fornal’s golden attack, landed right in my hands, and I thought it would be a wonderful memory of what we achieved this year“.

But there was another detail.
The ball was not simply going into the coach’s collection.
Grbić had started turning it into something that belonged to the entire team.
After the final, he collected the signatures of his players on it, with footage showing him continuing the process in Milano and even handing the ball to Fornal to sign. By the time he spoke on television a few days later, the autograph mission was complete.

“I have already collected all the signatures and I am taking it with me. Of course, if I have to pay 60, 80 or 100 euros for it — no problem,” he added with a smile.

And suddenly, what had looked like a funny little post-match theft had become something much more personal.
The ball had quite literally fallen into Grbić’s hands at the exact moment Poland completed another extraordinary chapter. The 3-1 victory over France — 31:29, 25:19, 20:25, 25:16 — gave Poland their third European title, allowed them to defend the crown won in 2023 and secured their place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
For Grbić, the evening had an additional emotional dimension.
Milano and Italy have been an important part of his life both as a player and as a coach, and he has previously described Italy as a kind of second home. His family was also in the stands for the final, making the night even more personal.
The ball therefore became much more than a piece of equipment from a championship match.
It carries the signatures of the players who won the title.
It carries the memory of the final point.
And, perhaps most importantly, it represents the end of another extraordinary season for Poland under head coach Nikola Grbić!
Since taking charge of the national team in 2022, the Serbian coach has now guided Poland to a medal at each of the ten major international tournaments they have contested under his leadership: bronze at the 2022 VNL, silver at the 2022 World Championship, gold at the 2023 VNL and EuroVolley, bronze at the 2024 VNL and silver at the Paris Olympics, gold at the 2025 VNL and bronze at the 2025 World Championship, followed by gold at the 2026 VNL and EuroVolley.

Ten major tournaments. Ten medals.

And now, somewhere with Grbić, there is a volleyball carrying the signatures of the players who made number ten possible.
Years from now, he probably will not need to explain what happened in Milano when he looks at it.
Although, if someone eventually asks him to give the ball back, Grbić has already made his position perfectly clear.

He’ll pay for it.

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