The Cuban Volleyball team returned to Havana focused on reaching the Final Round of the 2009 World League. Despite two losses against Bulgaria last weekend, Cuba still leads Pool C, and will now face Japan looking for a ticket to Belgrade.

Cuba coach Orlando Samuels: "We have been working out really hard since we returned home. Playing abroad wore us down a little, but we got our timing back quickly. We tried to polish some plays and stressed the work in our weakness. I think we are ready to clinch the ticket to the Final Round. This is a high-level tournament, and it's hard to always keep on top. That killed us against Bulgaria last week, but now we are ready to qualify."

Japan coach Tatsuya Ueta: "I think Cuba is a great team, maybe the best so far. I even think Cuba can beat (defending champion) the United States right now. But the victory we got against Russia last week inspired us. Tomorrow we will go for the triumph, in spite of the changes we were forced to make because of the injuries to Olympic players Kota Yamamura, Kunihiro Shimizu and Yu Kozhikawa."