Press release

Sapporo, Japan, November10, 2011 - Five of the top six seeds in the FIVB World Cup 2011 will be competing in the third round in the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Centre starting on Friday. The Italians roll in boasting a spotless 5-0 record, and will take on Korea in their opening third round match.

After their first five games Italy sit atop the standings with 14 points following victories against Japan, China, the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Algeria in the earlier rounds but now Italy coach Massimo Barbolini says his team has a greater task on their hands over the next three days.

“The first round was difficult for us. The second was easier but the third round will be even more difficult, playing three of the strongest teams.”

Meanwhile their opponents Korea are 1-4 after facing difficult opposition in the first two rounds. Italy has had the advantage historically with 10 wins and eight defeats but despite Korea’s poor record thus far, Barboloni is not taking them lightly:

“Korea are one of the strongest teams in Asia, and the world. We have to play as we did against China and against Japan and get in our rhythm. We have to improve our play if we want to do well in this round and the rest of the World Cup.”

The last time the two teams faced each other was in the 2009 Grand Champions Cup when Italy came away the victors in a close 3-2 contest. Korean coach Kim Hyung-Sil is well aware of the strength of the Italian team, but says his team is becoming more confident after picking up a win against Kenya:

“Their height and power are very good. We won against Kenya and are now playing more consistently. We’ll do our best against them. I think our play is now pretty good, and as a team we’re stable and playing with a united spirit. Because we had little opportunity to practice, we lost four matches in a row. Morale was getting low at that point. After we beat Kenya, our spirits improved and now we’re feeling pretty stable."

The match will see two prolific scorers face off against each other, in Italy’s Carolina del Pilar Costagrande and Korea’s Kim Yeon-Koung. The latter is the tournament’s second leading scorer after two rounds with 80 points. Coach Kim noted that she is the “key player” on their side and raises the game of the entire team:

“She has played in Japan and has made our team improve a lot. Unfortunately our team doesn’t have good combinations skills, but she attacks well, and makes our team much better.”

Women’s World Cup Results/Standings, Match Info, Photos or Live Scoring

In the other games on Friday, China faces Brazil, and Japan play Serbia

China vs Brazil

Just behind the Italians in the standings sit the Chinese with 11 points, tied with USA. Despite their strong record China have been inconsistent at times, having to come from behind in three of their four wins. They will face fifth place Brazil on Friday, who also comes in with four wins and a loss. The last time the teams met was in the World Grand Prix in Ningbo where Brazil beat China on its home turf. Historically the Brazilians lead the head-to-head with 28 wins and 21 losses.

China coach Yu Juemin: From tomorrow we start the third round, and every team we play against is going to be very strong. We’re concerned the matches will all be difficult. Tomorrow we start by facing Brazil; they’re playing well this year and we’ll do our best against them.

Brazil coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes: We’re starting another round, and its going to be hard with three difficult matches here. We play our first match against China I think China this year is better than last year, than in the World Grand Prix when we saw them. they have quick balls. many attacking combos. We have to improve our game. We played five matches in the last leg, but we didn’t play well. We have to improve. This trip includes hard matches but we have to try to do our best.

Japan vs Serbia

The hosts Japan stands equal with Brazil with 10 points, just two points ahead of their Serbian opponents on Friday. The strong Serbian squad beat Japan in the World Grand Prix preliminaries this year, and the host team is hoping for a different result this time out.

Japan coach Masayosi Manabe: I think the third round will be very difficult. We play against Serbia, a champion in Europe. Their serving, blocking, and spiking are all good. But the Japanese team will do its best to try to win.

Serbia coach Zoran Terzic: I’m very happy and satisfied with our play in the first five games, even though we had just two wins. I’m happy how we played, especially against Germany and Brazil. Now we play against Japan, China, and Italy, and I hope we can continue with a good result.

Shocked by the losses thus far?: From the start we’ve had only one shock, the injury of Sanja Malagurski. Everything else was ok. We played Brazil, Germany, and USA and I think we performed well. Without four very important players I think its normal to lose to strong opponents like Brazil, USA and Germany. Now we don’t have a strong chance to finish in the top three, but we’re going to try our best for the rest of the tournament.

On Japan: We have played Japan many times, and each game was very exciting very good. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose - but every time we enjoy it. It’s very different volleyball than European volleyball and it can be a problem sometimes for us. Japan’s defense is strong, and I think tomorrow will be the same as in the past, a very good game. Our strategy is simple, and you must play very well if you want to beat Japan.

On Jovana Brakocevic’s possible return from injury: It’s difficult to say when Jovana will start to play. She practiced seven days before, and I hope she plays soon. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not tomorrow - but I hope soon.