MATCH INFO

Osaka, Japan, June 22, 2012, Press Conference, Germany vs Japan - In front of an enthusiastic crowd at Osaka, Germany put up a dominating performance over the host Japan. Even though his team has three losses previously, Coach Giovanni Guidetti is very proud of how they have played.

Germany captain Margareta Kozuch: "I think today we beat a strong team, and I’m proud we could play that way, and finish the match 3-1. We had a really strong service and attack, and a lot of patience, with good blocking and defense. I’m really happy and we can now look forward to tomorrow’s match."

On Corina Ssuschke-Voigt’s performance: "I think in service we were strong and risked a lot. [Ssuschke-Voigt] is always taking risks on her serve never afraid to go strong. She helped us finish in fourth, and I think its big advantage for our team if we can continue to play in that way."

Germany coach Giovanni Guidetti: "I congratulate my team on their performance today. They played strong and very aggressive in every element. Japan did not have their best players but were still great. They’re always difficult. I’m very impressed with our fourth set after we had a bad third. Our attack was very good; our blocking and serving also was very good. I’m happy that we could continue what we’ve been doing since the beginning of this World Grand Prix. We previously lost to the number one and number two teams in the world, and the other matches we played were very strong."

Japan captain Erika Araki: "In today’s game Germany’s serve was especially difficult. We made many mistakes in the game. We had to play simply, but it just didn’t go well. For myself, i didn’t perform well. I’ll try to address some problems and play better tomorrow."

Japan player Saori Sakoda: "I myself didn’t do serve reception, but I was thinking that I could try to cover and support my teammates as best I could. My role was to get points, but when I really needed to score the most I couldn’t come through. So I think I need to do that better going forward into tomorrow."

Japan player Megumi Kurihara: "Their serve was tough, but if our serve had been better we might have been ok. So we need to improve on that point."

Japan coach Masayosi Manabe: "As my players said, their serve was excellent and gave us lots of problems. Their block was high and tough to get past. That was the main reason that we couldn’t win."

On choosing players for the Olympics, and chances to make final round of WGP : "Except the setter, I haven’t really decided on the any positions. So we’ll have to see how the next couple of games play out. I still think we can make the final round, but we have to win our next two matches."