All eight coaches from Pool F suspect they will be stepping on to dangerous ground when the second round starts on Saturday

Osaka, Japan, November 5, 2010 - The 2010 FIVB Women's World Championship second round Pool F coaches met the media on Friday night and sounded a tone of seriousness, acknowledging that the stakes had now risen after their first-round success.

"I am very proud to be here with my team," said Jose Roberto Guimaraes, coach of the top-ranked Brazil side who achieved a perfect 5-0 record in the opening round. "Our goal is the semifinals in Tokyo. We will try to play better with each match. The Thais (their upcoming opponents) are small but have a very good defence so we have to be careful."

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Hugh McCutcheon, coach of the second-ranked USA, who also won all five matches in the first round, said the competition would only get tougher from here on. "Our goal is to keep continuing," he said. "We will face good and tough teams. We will have a challenging match against the Czech Republic (on Saturday). We will play our best volleyball and see what happens."

Italy's Massimo Barbolino, whose fourth-ranked side went 3-2 in the first round, was business-like as he discussed his opponents. "The second round will be very difficult. We will play four tough teams. We will try to do better than we did in the first round."

Cuba coach Juan Carlos Gala cited the importance of concentration ahead of his side's match against the Netherlands. "You have to face the matches point by point. The Netherlands are a great team and we will have to play better to advance to the next round."

Netherlands coach Avital Selinger, whose team are 10th in the world standings and were 2-3 in the first round, was realistic in his assessment. "At this stage I don't expect any easy match," he said. "Anything can happen in this group. Cuba have great ability. We will have to be at our best."

Thai coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai, whose team's opening-round record was 2-3, was pleased with their progress so far. "We are happy to make the second round for the first time," he said. "We will do our best to advance. Brazil are one of the best teams in the world."

Giovanni Guidetti, coach of Germany, did not want to look too far ahead after his team went 1-4 in the first round. "We are very proud to be in the second round. We will only look to the next match," he said.

Jiri Siller, coach of the Czech Republic, who were the lowest-ranked team (38th) to advance to the second round, after registering a 3-2 record in their opening pool, hopes his side can maintain their decent form. "We are satisfied with making the second round," he said. "We would like to play this round like we played the last."

The World Championship began with teams from 24 nations, and they have now been whittled down to 16. Twelve sides will advance to the semifinal round in Tokyo.