Press release

Kagoshima, Japan, November 19, 2011 – The FIVB Men’s World Cup 2011 begins Sunday, November 20, and the six teams competing in the first round Site B in Kagoshima will have similar challenges with a very deep group to open the 11-match, 15-day tournament being held in various cities in Japan.

The coaches for the six teams competing in Kagoshima echoed similar comments on the eve of the tournament:  the tournament is very deep and balanced with many teams with the potential to earn an Olympic Games berth through the tournament. The carrot that all 12 teams are chasing are three 2012 Olympic Games berths awarded to the FIVB World Cup medal winners.

The World Cup first round Site B has several teams in contention to not only earn one of those three berths, but also win the tournament. Top-ranked Brazil lead the Kagoshima pack based on the FIVB world ranking, while Russia follow at No. 2, Italy at No. 3 and United States at No. 4. Further, No. 10 China and No. 12 Egypt start the first round in Kagoshima.

The USA is the reigning Olympic Games champion, but will face a challenging start to the tournament as they search for one of the three coveted tickets to the Olympics. USA open against China on Sunday, but then face Brazil on Monday followed by Russia on Tuesday in challenging start. Despite the status of being defending Olympic Games champions, USA coach Alan Knipe considers other teams to be favorites to win the tournament.

“We feel like the World Cup field is very deep with many teams who can finish in the top three,” Knipe said. “It will be a grind and we look forward to the challenge. Right now I would give the nod to Brazil and Russia based on the recent history of the major tournaments. Russia and Brazil have won the last two World League championships and played against each other in the final round both times. Brazil won last year’s FIVB World Championship. However, the tournament has a really deep pool of teams which can win the tournament and a number of combinations on who can qualify for the Olympic Games.”

While Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende did not mention teams specifically, he believes the depth of the 2011 FIVB World Cup is the best he has seen from his past experience. The Brazilians reached the gold-medal match at the 2008 Olympic Games before losing to the USA, and have competed in the FIVB World League title match in the last three years winning gold in 2009 and 2010 to stake their claim among World Cup favorites. But the South Americans too will have several challenges ahead should they wish to enter into the 2012 Olympic Games in the first qualification tournament.

“This is my third FIVB World Cup, and this is the toughest field assembled and quite possibly the most balanced,” Rezende said. “It will be very tough to qualify for the Olympics at the World Cup. Our mission is to be in the top three and earn a ticket to London. However, we will have a tough beginning in the first group in Kagoshima. As a team, we have not been training since the South American championship. Our only other competition was the World League, which has created a very short competition season. We may have lacked a little bit of competition, but we have trained very hard.”

Russia captured the gold medal at the FIVB World League this past summer with a victory Brazil, breaking their run of two straight titles. Like Brazil and many of the other top teams in the FIVB World Cup competition, Russia has had very little time training as a single unit.

“After our players’ last match in the National Russian league, we convened as a team and trained for 10 days in Moscow,” Russia coach Vladimir Alekno said. “We went to Hiroshima for a five-day training camp before arriving here in Kagoshima. We are ready for a strong competition with eight teams having a good chance to reach the medal podium and earn a berth in the Olympic Games.”

Like Alekno mentioned, Italy coach Mauro Berruto suggested eight or nine teams could be in a battle for the three podium spots and a spot in into 2012 Olympic Games. Yet, his squad will need to come together quickly against a deep field.

“We have not had much time in preparing for the World Cup with just four days together in Italy before leaving for Japan,” Berruto said. “We had one test match with our team playing an all-star team from the Italian league. We did not have weeks to prepare, but all teams are in the same situation. I think eight or nine teams have a real chance to qualify for the Olympics in this tournament. This will be a huge tournament with eight or nine of the top teams in the world competing, and I would consider it among the deepest tournaments. It will be a tough battle.”

While China and Egypt do not have as lofty of rankings as their other Kagoshima opponents, both head coaches hold hope for Olympic qualification if not to simply improve over the course of the tournament.

“Of course, the FIVB World Cup is the first tournament qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games,” China coach Zhou Jianan said. “China will do our best to get the rights to compete in London. Secondly, we want our players to get more experience playing against the stronger teams. We are all in good form entering the World Cup. Since the end of the Asian Championship in September, we have been training for 40 days in preparation for the World Cup.

Egypt enters the tournament with many new faces, including that of head coach Sherif El-Shemerly. The African Continental champions may not be among the teams talked about in reaching the Olympics in 2012 through the FIVB World Cup, but they may in the end surprise some teams along the way.

“We have changed a lot of our players,” El-Shemerly said. “In three years, we have eight new players and four players are new this year and competing in their first big event at the World Cup. We are playing with the top 12 teams in the world and hope to improve our world ranking of No. 12. I would hope we can win some of the matches against the teams near our team’s ranking.”

After the first round concludes on November 22, the six teams transfer to Kumamoto for the Site B second round in which the teams will finish the round robin of the initial group.

Other quotes from the coaches' press conference held the evening of November 19.

Brazil coach Rezende Bernando: I do think this is the most balanced tournament I've seen. There are several great teams here, and its very tough to get a spot for 2012 here. Our team is ok. My main concern is about our playing rhythm as players were with their clubs and everything. I think we have a tough beginning, and I hope we can get the points necessary to qualify for London [2012 Olympics].

Italy coach Mauro Berruto: I agree with Bernando. I think this is one of the highest level competitions I've ever seen. I'm proud and happy to be here. Of course we are expecting a tough tournament, and very high level matches. We want to go on growing of our project, and we want to play all our cards to get a ticket to London 2012. We aare happy to be here as sportsmen after a difficult moment for Japan [refers to March earthquake]. I am sure that volleyball and sports in general will show well after such a difficult moment.

On their work this year: I've been coaching just for a few months, as I was nominated coach of our national team in May, so less than six months really. We were starting a new project -- addressing our energies to our best talents, to reduce the average age of our team, focus on young players, and change the attitude of the team. Mainly it means working more hours. We did this before the European Championships finals had a great result; perhaps unexpected. This is what we have done and now we are curious to see how things turn out.

China coach Zhou Jianan: It's a good opportunity for us to take part in this World Cup. It's a very, very strong field and we hope we can get more experience in this tournament and show our skills to the audience. We hope to perform at a very high level.

Egypt Elshemerly Sherif: First i would like to say I'm happy I'm here participating with such tough competition. It's a great honor to participate in the World Cup 2011. I'd like to also mention that this year was difficult year for us as Egyptians, and also for our players with lots of difficulties in [Egypt's] political situation. I think our player worked hard to arrive here. I think we started in the middle of June and worked hard to beat Cameroon, Tunisia, and Algeria in the African Championships. I hope that the team will do their best, and me too and all the staff too, to fight with the top teams. It's a great honor to be here with you ,

Russia Coach Alekno Vladimir: I agree with the coaches. I am sure we will get a ticket to London.

USA coach Alan Knipe: First of all I'd like to say the World Cup is a wonderful tournament; a very difficult tournament. Japan is a wonderful place to be, and is a wonderful host. It's a very deep tournament and I think there are many possibilities for the top three to advance to London. Obviously its our goal, like everyone else, to advance -- but many things have to happen for that to occur. Also it's our goal to grow and improve throughout this tournament.