Tokyo, Japan, November 30, 2007: Comments from the official FIVB press conference after the Russia-Bulgaria match on Friday.

Bulgaria

Head Coach Martin Stoev: I was very happy about the victory today. It was a very important match for us in this tournament, and we have not beaten Russia for four years. Brazil and Russia have one defeat, and we have two, so we need to win the two remaining games.

Matey Kaziyski: It was a difficult game so we are really happy to win it. Before this match we thought we had very little chance to qualify for the Olympics, but now we have won we feel we have more hopes. We will manage to continue our effort until the end. Both teams played well, but this time the luck was on our side. The Russian team has a strong serve and spikes, so we knew it would be a difficult match. We tried to be patient and keep working steadily, and to control our rhythm.

Russia

Head Coach Vladimir Alekno: I can’t think of much to say right now, however I know there are many things I have to think about. We still have two games left, and these are the matches that will decide if we go to the Olympics. Poltavskiy said it was no surprise about Bulgaria, but we are the ones who could not respond to the Bulgarians’ play.

Semen Poltavskiy: The reason we did not win is because I did not play well. Bulgaria did well but this was no surprise. They played as usual.