MATCH INFO

Hiroshima, Japan, November 5, 2011, Japan vs Argentina Press Conference - Having lost to Italy on the previous day, hosts Japan were delighted to pick up their first win of the World Cup against Argentina.

Japan coach Masayosi Manabe: We started [Mai] Yamaguchi instead of Iwasaka today. We made some service errors but finally played well.

Regarding player Risa Shinnabe: She lost lots of points in reception. I told her that if it was tough to just stay back. But we still need to work on our reception more.

Regarding player Nana Iwasaka: Her attacks were ok when the sets from [Yoshie] Takeshita were good. But she made five service errors and needs to work on that for tomorrow.

Japan captain Erika Araki: I’m happy we won today, as we were very sorry about yesterday’s loss. We just wanted to start fresh and do our best. We hope to continue this way against China tomorrow.

Re China: We studied Chinese players a lot, especially against speedy attacking from the middle. So we’re going to need to work on our defence.

Japan player Risa Shinnabe: I’m sorry we lost yesterday, so of course I’m very happy to have won today.

Japan player Nana Iwasaka: Before the match the coach told me that it would be my first time starting and he told me to just smile [laughs]. I’m glad we won.

Argentina coach Bastit Horacio: Today we didn’t do very well. I knew it would be tough, but I thought we could do better. I had hoped for a closer match but it didn’t turn out that way… The difference in our world rankings was clear today.

On Lucia Fresco’s play: She’s so young and a little unstable sometimes. But I’m so happy with her play today, and I’m sure she’ll improve further in the future.

Argentina captain Emilce Sosa: It was a very different game today. We’re not used to the kind of speed that Japan has. We managed to catch up a bit in the third set, but we need to practice a little more for upcoming matches.