Intercontinental Round nears halfway stage as
Poland put unbeaten record on line against SCG
 Lausanne, Switzerland, June 8, 2005 – Following
four victories from as many matches during the
first two rounds of the 2005 World League
Intercontinental Round, world number seven
Poland travels away from home for the first time
with two riveting Pool C encounters this weekend
against last year’s bronze medalists Serbia and
Montenegro.
It promises to be a sumptuous clash between two
of the most powerful sides in the competition in
this the third week of six of the
Intercontinental Round. Serbia and Montenegro
coach Ljubomir Travica has vowed his side, who
collected their first win of the tournament last
weekend in Argentina and are preparing to play
in front of their home fans for the first time,
will try their utmost to break Poland’s record.
"For a young and inexperienced team one victory
and one defeat in five sets in Buenos Aires was
a great experience," Travica said. "I hope that
we will play better in front of our own crowd in
Novi Sad and Belgrade, and be victorious in the
upcoming matches with Poland."
The other Pool C encounter sees second-placed
Greece, who have two victories, visit Argentina,
who collected their maiden victory last weekend.
Meanwhile, in Pool A defending champions Brazil
head to Japan hoping to make amends for their
shock defeat to Portugal in round two. Having
suffered their first World League defeat in 25
games dating back to 2003, the world and Olympic
champions road to recovery will be eagerly
watched when they take on a Japanese side who
haven’t won in 16 matches. The second match
between these two sides on Sunday at 4 a.m. GMT
(1 p.m. local time) at the Gifu Memorial Centre
features as the FIVB’s “match of the week” for
which a live satellite broadcast will be
provided.
The other clash in the group sees joint pool
leader Portugal host a young and exciting
Venezuela side who have two victories to date.
In Pool B, leader Cuba, who have three wins and
one defeat, head to France for what shapes up as
another exciting fixture. Cuba are in red hot
form at the moment having only suffered one loss
to Italy, while France, who have two wins and
two defeats, are unpredictable at the best of
times but with lethal libero Hubert Henno
returning to action last weekend against
Bulgaria, the Tricolours will be tough to beat,
especially on their home turf.
The group’s other match sees two of last year’s
finalists feature with Bulgaria desperate to
maintain their momentum against Italy after
winning their first match last weekend.
First matches this week see Italy host Bulgaria
in Roseto d. Abruzzi at 18.30 GMT followed by
Argentina’s match against Greece at 00.00 GMT in
Buenos Aires.
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Competition Formula