Gdansk, Poland, July 5, 2011 – The captain of the most successful team in the FIVB Volleyball World League and defending champions Brazil says his team must focus on this year’s edition and this year’s edition only if Brazil are to win the title for a record 10th time when the Finals of the 2011 edition start on Wednesday.

Thirty-four-year-old Giba said at the official press conference on the eve of the World League 2011 Finals, which will run through until Sunday in Gdansk, Poland, that after a busy Intercontinental Round everybody in his team has to keep focused.

“Everybody coming here wants to stay for the final, they will all play tough,” Giba said. Everybody is in a good enough condition to arrive here. We have to stay concentrated, think one match at a time and try to forget about the previous ones. We are very tired, but we will do our best. Some people say it is a “death group”, but we will see.”

His coach Bernardo Rezende reiterated his comments, highlighting the fact that Pool F features a rematch of the Olympic Games final (which Brazil lost to USA), last year’s World League final (which Brazil beat Russia) and last year’s World Championship final (which Brazil beat Cuba).

“It is a tough competition, tough group,” Bernardinho said. “I am glad that we will once again meet the teams which have been in the finals of every major event in the past few years. It is a tournament on the highest level.”

2011 FIVB Volleyball World League
Live Scoring/Results
Final Round - Poland July 6-10

Meanwhile, Russia are also looking forward to the first three days of pool play which sees the world No. 2 and last year’s silver medallists play Russia, Cuba and then Brazil.
“It is a great honour for us to play here in Gdansk, in Poland,”  captain Taras Khtey said. "We are very happy to be in the Final Round, which is a little different than previous ones, since we have eight teams playing. All the teams in this group have deserved to be here, these are the best teams in the world. We are very happy that we can test ourselves against them.”

Russia coach Vladimir Alenko added: “I will say the same things my captain said, we are very glad to be in the Finals. We have eight of the best teams in the world. This five-day-long tournament will be a great test for us. We will see about the results in five days. Of course I would prefer to play against weaker teams, but I got Brazil, the USA and Cuba. We will see.”

USA coach Alan Knipe was also impressed with the quality of teams in attendance: “This is a wonderful tournament and a test of our endurance and volleyball abilities. The most important thing is to build a tactic and a strong squad. We started World League in Poland and it was a wonderful experience, so we expect the same now. We are in a great group, there are the best teams in the world here. We had no control in how the groups turned out. It was our goal to get here and we are happy to climb on another step in World League.”

Other comments from the press conference include:
Cuba captain Wilfredo Leon: “We are after a very tough competition. We played tough. We are in a hard group, so we expect some good games.”

Cuba coach Orlando Samuels Blackwood: “We are very happy and lucky to be here in Poland. We have a very young team, so we are looking forward to learning a lot from more experienced teams participating in this tournament.”

USA captain William Priddy: “I will only repeat what other captains said – we are glad to be here. World League is one of the highlights of every summer. It will be great test for us before the coming events.”

Argentina captain, Rodrigo Quiroga: “I want to say I am so happy to be here among the best teams in the world. Our group will be very difficult, we have hard matches in front of us. I hope for the best. I know the organization here in Poland, I expect 10 points for it."

Argentina coach, Javier Weber: “We are very happy to be here. We played very well in the pool round and in the regular season and I hope we will continue to do so here in this tournament."

Bulgaria captain, Vladimir Nikolov: “I am very happy to be here. Actually our last World League final was here, in Poland. For us to be here is very important, it gives us a lot of satisfaction. We have a lot of tough games, especially tomorrow when we will play against Poland in a hall full of Polish spectators. It will be a new experience for my players. We have a plan and we will try to win."

Bulgaria coach, Radostin Stoychev: “I am truly glad to be here and I want to thank the organizing team for preparing everything and helping us. I am sure that we are not one of the favorites, but we are here and I think we have to work to play better and increase our level of playing. Matey Kaziysky had some problem with his back, but now he is better and he will play against Poland tomorrow."

Italy captain Cristian Savani: “I am very proud of what we did in the Intercontinental Round. We are a young team so we are glad to have an opportunity to work on our play. It is good for us to test ourselves against the best teams.”

Italy coach Mauro Berruto: “We set a goal in May, when we met with the team for the first time. We made some changes then and set new goals. We made it here, it was one of those goals. We always want to be where the best volleyball is. We desire to compare ourselves with the best teams, so we are very curious. Our goal is now to stay here till Saturday. Then we will see.”

Poland captain Piotr Gruszka: “We are really glad to be here. He have a very difficult tournament ahead. The eight best teams in the world came here, and they proved themselves in the Intercontinental Round. I hope that now we will be able to adjust our
level of playing to the level of class of our wonderful spectators."

Poland coach, Andrea Anastasi: “Volleyball in Poland is one of the most important things. Our spectators want to see the best of us, so we are curious about our level. We want to fight for the highest trophies and stay here as long as possible. We have only one libero, but I know we can win.”