Netherlands coach Gido Vermeulen, Slovakia coach Miroslav Palgut, Czech Republic Miguel Angel Falasca Fernades, and Cuba coach Rodolfo Luis Sanchez
Bratislava, Slovakia, June 22, 2016 – The coaches and captains of the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Cuba and hosts Slovakia shared their thoughts on Group 2’s Pool D2 competition of the FIVB Volleyball World League on Wednesday.
Jesper Diefenbach, captain of the Netherlands: "We fought well in first matches and we expect to do the same here in Slovakia. We hope for good results to build good position to start the final weekend. We are a good fighting team and I believe we will show that on the court."
Gido Vermeulen, coach of the Netherlands: "We are on the road and we have the same team we had in Izmir. We are happy to be here. We lost our last match in the first week, so we want to improve and take another victory. We have a mix of experienced and young players. We know Czech republic and Slovakia very well, but I think most of our players will play for the first time against Cuba, so we are looking forward to it."
Ales Holubec, captain of Czech Republic: “We have quite new team. We don´t have big goals, we are going to do this match by match. For us, we don’t look at the future as playing in this entire tournament, but rather the next match against the Netherlands.”
Miguel Angel Falasca Fernades, coach of Czech Republic: "Our goal is to build the team and develop the character of players. We want to improve our level individually and as a team. We want to take international experience, because many of our players played first international matches last weekend. But of course we want to win as much as we can. We will try to win against the Netherlands."
Rolando Cepeda Abreu, captain of Cuba: "We are happy to be in Slovakia after long trip from Japan. Our goal is to win as much games as we can because we want to qualify to Final Four."
Rodolfo Luis Sanchez, coach of Cuba: "We have the youngest team in the World League, so all of the tournaments we play in is a big experience for us. It is important to improve and I hope our performances will be better and better each match."
Emanuel Kohut, captain of Slovakia: "Every match, every winning ball and every point is important for us. We have a young team and we need success to build our confidence. We are looking forward to this home tournament and I expect that we will play good volleyball. I hope that a lot of fans will go to the arena to watch us.”
Miroslav Palgut, coach of Slovakia: "We are happy that we finished last week’s competition on a winning note. Our young team played better and better and I hope that we will continue this way. This home tournament is very important for us because we want to put our best performance before our fans. I hope they will come in large groups to support us."