What the Coaches said before the Tournament


Pic: (left to right) Zapevalo Alexander, Stanislaw Gosciniak, Juan Diaz and Miguel Cambero

ZAPEVALO ALEXANDER
Head Coach, Kazakhstan

"This tournament will show who is the best team here in Porto. I would like to thank the Portuguese Volleyball Federation for their hospitality and for doing such a wonderful job organizing this competition.

"Our training went very well before arriving in Portugal, all my players are fit and well and we are feeling confident after finishing third in the Asian Championships. I think Poland are probably the strongest team here this week, and I'd like to think that we can prove that we are not the weakest.

"Whichever team qualifies for Athens I would like to wish them the very best of luck in advance."


STANISLAW GOSCINIAK
Head Coach, Poland

"I think all four teams who are here this week can win the competition and qualify for Athens. We will see who are favorites after the first round of matches. It is very important for all teams to win that first game.

"Every player in the Poland team is feeling healthy and ready to play. Every team has a chance to win the competition this week and make it to the Olympic Games."


JUAN DIAZ
Head Coach, Portugal

"It is very obvious that all the teams will be trying to reach the Olympics so we will do our best this week to make it to Athens. All my players are fit and looking forward to playing.

"All the teams in Porto are very equal but I have a lot of confidence in my players and I think we have a good chance of qualifying for Athens."


MIGUEL CAMBERO
Head Coach, Venezuela

"We have one player who has been slightly injured ' Ronald Mendez ' but I am confident he will be ready for the competition.

"I do not think there is a favorite team this week, but we will know more after the first day. We won the gold medal at the Pan American Games, where we beat Brazil, and we are hoping we can play to the same standard this week.

"We had 20,000 cheering us on in the sports hall so we feel a big
responsibility to the fans back home. If we do qualify for Athens, then we will be the first team from Venezuela to qualify for an Olympic Games. But our main responsibility is to repay our fans back in Venezuela."