Tokyo, Japan, September 23, 2015 – Australia overcame Venezuela 3-1 (25-16, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21) in the FIVB Men’s World Cup at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Wednesday.
Australia coach Roberto Santilli: First, let me thank Japan and the Japanese people for the great hospitality we’ve enjoyed in this country. We’ve had a really amazing time and really enjoyed it here. In the end, we also enjoyed the World Cup. If the secret of life is to be happy with what you have, I can say I’m happy with these guys. We are not the first team of the world but we are doing a great job and my guys showed that this World Cup was useful for us because it taught us something. We learned some lessons and the guys improved a lot and to finish with three victories in a row is something we couldn’t expect after our tough beginning. So we are happy and now we can go on holiday.
(Re. promise to shave his head if the won three straight matches): A promise is a promise in Italy like Australia and Japan, too.
Australia captain Thomas Edgar: First, thanks to Venezuela for a very tough match today. It’s been a long tournament for us but I feel there’s been a lot of growth in our team. Now we’re finished for the season and it’s good to finish with three wins. I want to say thank you to Japan for having us again. I’ve been here twice for tournaments and both times it’s been amazing. I love playing here.
(Re. playing in the same lineup as Paul Carroll): When Robbie (coach Santilli) first told me, my face would have said a thousand words. It’s something different and something that’s maybe worth trying; to have our two best high-ball attackers on the court can definitely change the makeup of the game and can put the other team out of sync
Venezuela coach Vincenzo Nacci: This competition was a very good experience for my team and I feel my team has good potential. Some players had a really good chance to show what they can do here, others not so much. I think in many ways we have to make our performance better. In this World Cup, Argentina and Japan have played very well; they don’t just have good players, but in terms of technique and things like that we have to learn from such teams.
Venezuela captain Kervin Pinerua: Congratulations for a good game but we’re unhappy to lose. We were hoping to score more points at the end. We still have a chance to go to the Olympics, so we’ll go back to our country and prepare for the qualifiers.
Venezuela No. 5 Emerson Rodriguez: Congratulations to Australia. We are very happy to have participated in a tough competition like the World Cup. For our team, the competition was more about preparing for the Olympic qualifiers. Our target here was not a ticket to Rio but more preparing and adjusting for the qualifiers and to gain experience.