Coaches of teams taking part in the Pool V African qualifier for the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship Poland 2014

Tunis, Tunisia, March 3, 2014 - The coaches of the teams taking part in the Pool V qualification tournament for the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Poland 2014 in Tunisia have expressed their qualification hopes.

The coaches were speaking on the first day of the tournament scheduled to take place at the Palais des Sport Hall in Tunis, Tunisia from March 3 to 7, 2014.

Tunisian coach Fathy Mkaouer mentioned that his team is a big favourite, but the players should do their utmost during the matches. He also pointed out that his players are now ready to compete for the first position after the long preparations for the prestigious event. We prepared locally for this tournament because the players were busy with their clubs in the Arab club championship which finished last week.

Seychelles coach Ally Francois said that the team is ready to compete after their preparations for two weeks in Mauritius. "We played 6 matches there among them three with the Mauritian team before coming back home for two more weeks of preparations. We are coming here to show good volleyball and qualify among the more experienced teams.”

Senegal coach Assane Diallo confirmed that they had only local preparations in their country for three months. "We couldn't play international matches and only friendly matches with clubs in Dakar were played. We need to concentrate to beat those strong teams here. We know qualification won’t be easy but we will do our best."

Niger head coach Douka Aboubacar said that the 10 days they stayed in Algeria on their way to the qualification tournament benefitted the team a great deal especially as they played against several Algerian clubs. "Now we are ready to compete. We know it is difficult to beat those big teams especially Tunisia between their spectators, but we will use the experience we gained from the participation in Zone 3 competition in Cote d'Ivoire.”

Congo Brazzaville coach Vingha Charlemagne said that his team had outside preparations in Cameroon and DR Congo, where they played a lot of matches against the clubs there. "We had a weak local league, but my players worked hard during the friendly matches and now we are able to compete for the last World championship slot. We can do it."

The winner of the round robin tournament will earn the third African ticket to the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship Poland 2014 scheduled to take place from August 30 to September 21.

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