Toyama, Japan, September 15, 2015 – Site B of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup has moved to Toyama on the northern side of Japan’s main island of Honshu.
The press conference held one day before the action at Toyama City Gymnasium reflected the teams’ readiness to face a new round of opportunities to achieve their objectives in the competition.
Poland enjoys a 5-0 slate and coach Stephane Antiga intends to capitalize on this momentum.
“We started this competition well. We have three important games to play here. We could rest and we’re happy to be in Toyama. I think we are ready,” he said.
Russia dropped their match against Poland in the first round but coach Vladimir Alekno remains confident in his team’s effort in the next phase.
“Tomorrow, we have a game against Australia. For Russia, we will continue trying to compete hard. Tomorrow will be a new day and a new challenge,” he added.
Argentina coach Julio Velasco sees an interesting round of matches ahead.
“I’m happy to be in Japan for some very interesting matches and I hope we will see some good volleyball,” he said. “We’re very happy because we won with Iran, one of the best teams in this competition.
“We lost against Poland and Russia, but I think that’s normal because they are stronger teams than us, but at times we could play good volleyball with them.”
Australia coach Roberto Santilli found himself “sitting between the world champion and the Olympic champion” and he said that the experience for his team has been amazing.
“We are a small country for volleyball and we’re trying to develop in a big country which is famous for sports but not for volleyball. We are trying to keep developing a young team that we have brought here and of course we hope to have some good results,” he added.
Canada coach Glenn Hoag described the competition as a learning experience for the entire team. “We’ll try to keep our focus. For us, it was a difficult beginning; I think we could have played better.
“Team USA are stronger than us, but it’s a way for me to assess my team. Against Australia we came back to some basic things we can do well and try to do well.”
Nehad Shehata, who was named coach of Egypt right before the FIVB World Cup, shared how happy he was to be part of the competition.
“We came here to improve our ranking in the world, to show the world our volleyball and to give experience to the players on the team.
“My team is getting better day by day and I hope we can complete our goals.”