Cuba celebrates, thankful to win a tight match in a tie-break vs Korea.
Osaka, Japan, June 17, 2016 - In the 2016 FIVB World League opening match Cuba saw off a spirited Korean team. While Korea put up a good fight, Cuba took the match in a tie-break 3-2 (33-31, 25-18, 14-25, 22-25, 15-6).
Rodolfo Sanchez, coach of Cuba: "Even if we had lost this match, I’d be satisfied if we could play well and take just two sets in this one. I think we’ve made a good start to this tournament here in Osaka. I’m happy with today’s result, but I’m not satisfied with the performance of a few of our players, and there is much space for us to improve in the upcoming matches here. I think our team can do well in this World League tournament. I’d also like to compliment the Korean team that showed some never-give-up spirit in this match today."
Kim Namsung, coach of Korea: "I’d like to congratulate Cuba on this match, as well as for their Olympic qualification. We had a very well-balanced performance, and our setter and libero played well. Seo Jae-Duck played well too. If we continue to improve until the 2020 Olympics, I think we can put ourselves in a good position for those games."
Rolando Cepeda Abreu, captain of Cuba: "We took the first and second set and that was as we expected, but we made a number of errors in the third and fourth, and that was not good. We were glad we could recover in the tie-break, and overall the result was a good one for us. Our strength is serving and attacking, and when these aspects of our game are functioning, then we can create good chances for winning."
Han Sun-Soo, captain of Korea: "This match was a very regrettable one for our team, so I really can’t say very much about this one. I think many things in our team need to improve, like receiving, attacking and serving – many aspects of our game, really."