2018 FIVB VOLLEYBALL MEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
- 9–30 September
- Schedule
- Teams
- Power Rankings
Eight teams were sent home at the end of the WCH’s first phase. Although elimination is never easy, most of them left Bulgaria and Italy with their heads held high and strong hopes for their volleyball features. Here are some of their reactions:
Cameroon’s coach Blaise Mayam Re Niof had by far the most heartfelt reaction the eliminated teams:
- “We are really sorry that we did not manage to progress to the second round. Our pool included very strong teams like the United States, Russia and Serbia. Injuries sensibly affected our aim to book a ticket to the next stage of the championship. We will be ready for the next one to come. We will be working hard to improve and try to become one of the strongest teams in the world. The next event on schedule for my team is the African Volleyball Championship in 2019. We are the third-ranked team in the charts from 2017. We will do our utmost to emerge as the eventual winners!”
The Dominican Republic only won one set in the whole tournament:
- José Gutierrez Sanchez, Dominican Republic’s head coach: “We are are going home happy for this experience and organize our development programs for the near future.”
- Henry Tapia, Dominican Republic’s opposite hitter: “We were very proud to represent our country with all our efforts and commitment to doing our best. We know we have to work hard to qualify for the next major international competitions. Thanks to Florence for the hospitality.”
Tunisia left the tournament with only 2 sets won in 5 games:
- Antonio Giacobbe, Tunisia’s head coach: “It is difficult to understand the positives we can take from our experience in this competition. A defeat always causes bad feelings.”
Puerto Rico lost all of its 5 games and left the tournament with only 3 sets won:
- Eddie Rivera, player of Puerto Rico: “It was a great experience. We need to play more at this high level in order to improve in the future. We usually do not play against such strong teams and now we are definitely more experienced than at the beginning of the tournament.”
The young Cuban squad actually surprised fans with its consistent play:
- Niclas Coffigny, head coach of Cuba: “I am satisfied with our performance during the whole championship. We lost some games but we became stronger gaining a priceless experience.”
- Livan Rodriguez, captain of Cuba: “I believe that we will get stronger and we will perform better in the future. In general this was a great tournament organised at a very high level”
Egypt did not have an easy time in Pool B, where it had to play against powerhouses Brazil and France, as well as the competent Canadian and Dutch teams:
- Mohamed Moselhy Ibrahim, coach of Egypt: “In general our group had the most powerful teams. There were three teams that were considered favorites. However, I am very satisfied with the way my team performed here. If we have the opportunity to play yearly about 30 matches at the same level, I think we would have very good results.”
Japan got eliminated even though it won its last group game against Argentina:
- Philippe Blain, Japan’s assistant coach: “It is a strange situation; on one hand, we are happy we took the victory, on the other hand, it is sad to leave the tournament with two wins. We are proud of the quality of the game we produced tonight.”
- Yuji Nishida, who scored 30 points in the game: “We played very well as a team, and it is sad we cannot go to the next round; it was anyway good to win, it is something we will take on for next year.”
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