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FIVB Men's Olympic Games
2008
Press releases
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USA is slightly the favourite in NORCECA Olympic Qualifier |
Logo of the NORCECA Men's Olympic Qualifier |
Caguas, Puerto Rico, December 31, 2008 - The 2008 NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Championship will be played January 6-11 in the city of Caguas, with USA as the top favourite of the eight-team event to be held at Hector Sola Bezares Coliseum.
Following its fourth-place finish at the FIVB World Cup, Team USA’s world ranking has improved from fifth to third behind Brazil and Russia. Nevertheless, it can expect a battle from several NORCECA teams, particularly Canada, Cuba and Puerto Rico, which defeated the United States in four sets at the World Cup and went on to finish sixth.
The other teams that have confirmed their participation in the qualification championship are Mexico, Dominican Republic, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago. All competed at the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship in Anaheim, California.
Only the winning team at the NORCECA qualifier will earn a spot at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
Puerto Rico qualified for the World Cup by finishing second to the United States at the NORCECA championship. The United States was the only team to beat Puerto Rico in that tournament.
Teams will be divided in two pools with the winner of each division advancing directly to the semi finals round. Teams placed in second and third will meet in crossed matches in the quarter finals phase.
The USA (3rd), Puerto Rico (8th), Barbados (32nd) and Dominican Republic (35th) will compete in Group A. Cuba (17th), alongside Canada (18th), Mexico (37th) and Trinidad & Tobago (38th) complete Group B.
Playing Puerto Rico at home will be difficult, said U.S. Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon. “We expect Puerto Rico’s fans to be out in force,” McCutcheon said. “It will be like playing Poland in Poland or Brazil in Brazil.”
Puerto Rico’s Hector Soto was the overall leading scorer at both the NORCECA Championship and World Cup tournaments.
“It won’t be easy. The competition will be tough but our chances of qualifying are there,” stated Soto. “We will be at home and if the other teams want to qualify they will have to beat us first.”
"This Olympic qualifier has a full spectrum of eligible teams from the NORCECA Zone and will prove to be a tough qualifying process," commented Canada's Head Coach Glenn Hoag. "Our team is focused and looking forward to playing after many months of training. Our attention will be focused on the task at hand."
Preliminary Round Schedule
January 6
11:00 Canada vs Trinidad & Tobago
13:00 Dominican Republic vs USA
15:00 Cuba vs Mexico
18:00 Puerto Rico vs Barbados
January 7
14:00 Trinidad & Tobago vs Mexico
16:00 USA vs Barbados
18:00 Cuba vs Canada
20:00 Puerto Rico vs Dominican Republic
January 8
14:00 Trinidad & Tobago vs Cuba
16:00 Barbados vs Dominican Republic
18:00 Mexico vs Canada
20:00 USA vs Puerto Rico
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More press releases |
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27.08.2008 |
Brazilians Anderson, Gustavo bow out after winning Olympic silver |
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27.08.2008 |
Beijing in perspective: USA shines brightest, 'Ze Roberto' makes history as Volleyball and Beach Volleyball enjoy their most successful Olympic Games ever |
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24.08.2008 |
MVP Stanley explains greatness behind USA Men's team after Olympic triumph |
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24.08.2008 |
USA Men claim first Olympic gold in 20 years with victory over Brazil |
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22.08.2008 |
USA and Brazil advance to gold-medal match in Men's Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing |
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22.08.2008 |
Americans in line to sweep golds |
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20.08.2008 |
Brazil, Italy, Russia, USA advance to semi-finals of Men's Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing |
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20.08.2008 |
U.S. Olympic Men’s team hosts 'Make-A-Wish' athlete at training session |
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18.08.2008 |
Drawing of lots schedule Quarter Finals for Men’s Olympic Tournament |
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18.08.2008 |
USA, Italy Bulgaria, China, Brazil, Russia, Poland, Serbia advance to quarter-finals of Men's Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing |
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18.08.2008 |
Moculescu says goodbye as Germany bow out |
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18.08.2008 |
The hottest tickets in town: VIPs and celebrities flock to watch Olympic Volleyball & Beach Volleyball |
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16.08.2008 |
USA, Italy, Venezuela, Russia, Serbia, Brazil claim victories on Day 4 of Men’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing |
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16.08.2008 |
Formula One President Ecclestone takes in Serbia-Germany match |
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16.08.2008 |
USA Head Coach McCutcheon returns to guide team |
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14.08.2008 |
Russia down Brazil on third day of Men's Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing; Italy, China, USA, Germany, Poland all claim victories |
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14.08.2008 |
FIVB President Acosta joined by Chinese Vice President Xi at Women's Olympic Volleyball game |
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12.08.2008 |
Brazil, USA, Russia, China, Poland, Bulgaria victorious on second day of Men’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing |
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12.08.2008 |
'Lucky' Alekno happy after Russia's five-set win over Germans |
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11.08.2008 |
Open letter from Hugh & Elisabeth McCutcheon |
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11.08.2008 |
Rezende takes positives from World League loss after bright Olympic start |
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10.08.2008 |
Brazil, USA, Russia, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland notch victories on opening day of Men’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing |
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08.08.2008 |
Head Coaches gather to preview Olympic Volleyball Tournaments at press conference |
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06.08.2008 |
All 24 Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Head Coaches set to attend official FIVB press conference Friday |
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06.08.2008 |
Brazilian talisman Giba confident of landing Olympic Games gold for soon-to-arrive son |
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06.08.2008 |
USA coach McCutcheon: Brazil best until beaten |
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04.08.2008 |
Chinese Men put through paces at Beijing competition venue |
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25.07.2008 |
China announces Men's and Women's players for Beijing Olympics |
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17.07.2008 |
U.S. Men, Women name 12 players nominated for Beijing Games |
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04.07.2008 |
Olympic Volleyball Tournaments matches schedule in Beijing for Men's and Women's are confirmed |
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11.06.2008 |
Preliminary match order completed for Olympic Volleyball Tournaments after Drawing of Lots in Beijing |
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10.06.2008 |
Olympic Volleyball Tournaments' Drawing of Lots in Beijing set for Wednesday |
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27.05.2008 |
Beijing berth ready to be contested in Portugal as FIVB confirms Olympic Games' Drawing of Lots for June 11 in host city |
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19.05.2008 |
Argentina tie with Brazil in Men's Olympic qualifier warm-up |
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07.05.2008 |
Olympic Volleyball and Beach Volleyball tickets sell out months ahead of Beijing 2008 |
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28.04.2008 |
Athletes passionately express their feelings on Beijing 2008 |
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22.04.2008 |
Stars to watch in Beijing: Bulgarian spiker Matey Kaziyski |
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20.04.2008 |
FIVB First Executive Vice-President Wei praises Beijing Games' preparations |
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18.04.2008 |
Argentines step up training ahead of Olympic qualifier |
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17.04.2008 |
FIVB First Executive Vice-President Wei hails ongoing Beijing test event, reserves special praise for Wongprasert |
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16.04.2008 |
China Club Volleyball Tournament tests Olympic Volleyball venues |
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14.04.2008 |
'Good Luck Beijing' official test event approaches ahead of Olympic Games Volleyball Tournaments |
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09.04.2008 |
Family man Milinkovic to miss Olympic qualifying tournament |
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01.04.2008 |
FIVB confirms match schedules for Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournaments |
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31.03.2008 |
38 referees (32 Men, 6 Women) from 26 countries finally confirmed to officiate Volleyball and Beach Volleyball at the Beijing Olympic Games |
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27.03.2008 |
Stars to watch in Beijing: Russian wing spiker Pavel Abramov |
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11.03.2008 |
Brazilian Rodrigão faces Beijing fitness battle after knee surgery |
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03.03.2008 |
Puerto Rico-Poland and Cuba-Spain the top matches for Portugal and Germany, Italy-Argentina the challenge for Japan |
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29.02.2008 |
All eyes on Tokyo as drawing of lots for Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournaments approaches |
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19.02.2008 |
Algeria to represent Africa in Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournaments |
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12.02.2008 |
Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournaments: Nine teams wait for the drawing of lots in Tokyo |
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12.02.2008 |
Torneos Mundiales Masculino de Clasificación Olímpica: Nueve equipos esperan por el sorteo de grupos en Tokio |
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10.02.2008 |
Men’s African Qualifications, Final: Egypt to Beijing Olympic Games |
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09.02.2008 |
Men’s African Olympic Qualifications' Semifinals: Egypt and Algeria to final spot |
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07.02.2008 |
Men’s African Olympic Qualifications, Day 5: Tunisia secure the fourth ticket to semifinal |
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06.02.2008 |
Men’s African Olympic Qualifications, Day 4: Egypt, Cameroon and Algeria to semifinals |
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05.02.2008 |
Men’s African Olympic Qualifications, Day 3: Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria, one more victory |
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04.02.2008 |
Men’s African Qualifications, Day 2: Egypt defeated Tunisia in the early final |
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03.02.2008 |
Men’s African Olympic Qualifications, Day one: Big teams achieved victories |
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03.02.2008 |
Men’s African Olympic Qualifications: Coaches of the participating teams insured the strong competition |
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01.02.2008 |
Men’s African Qualifications: 10 teams compete for one slot in Beijing |
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23.01.2008 |
The road to Beijing: drawing of lots in Tokyo for the World Qualification Tournaments, the last step to the Olympic stage |
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16.01.2008 |
African Olympic Qualifications: Egypt started count down preparations |
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15.01.2008 |
China forms new Men’s Team for the Olympic Games |
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14.01.2008 |
European Men's Olympic Qualification: Serbia goes to Beijing 2008 |
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12.01.2008 |
NORCECA Olympic Qualification: USA won the ticket to Beijing |
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11.01.2008 |
European Men's Olympic Qualification: Serbia, Finland and the Netherlands join Spain in the semifinal |
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10.01.2008 |
European Men's Olympic Qualification: explosive Volleyball in Izmir |
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10.01.2008 |
Norceca Olympic Qualification: Puerto Rico survived in five sets against Mexico |
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09.01.2008 |
NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier: USA joined Canada in semi finals |
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09.01.2008 |
European Men's Olympic Qualification: decisive start for Germany and Serbia |
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08.01.2008 |
European Men's Olympic Qualification: Italy, Spain and Finland good start |
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08.01.2008 |
NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier: Canada and Puerto Rico won tough battles |
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08.01.2008 |
Venezuela qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games for the first time in its history |
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07.01.2008 |
Europe’s best teams fight for Olympic ticket |
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07.01.2008 |
Puerto Rico started winning at home |
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06.01.2008 |
South American Men 2008 Beijing Olympic Qualification Tournament in Formosa |
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06.01.2008 |
Four teams with good chances in Norceca Men’s Olympic Qualification |
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18.12.2007 |
Olympic Qualification: five Men's team will take part in the South American Tournament in Formosa, Argentina |
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10.12.2007 |
The road to Beijing: after the FIVB World Cup, the second step begins. The Continental Olympic Qualification tournaments to start next week |
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Brazil