Matosinhos, Portugal, July 10, 2016 – Canada blanked hosts Portugal 3-0 in Sunday’s final of the 2016 FIVB World League Group 2. Thus, the North Americans secured a spot in next season’s World League Group 1. Read here what the coaches and captains said after the match.
Canada coach Glenn Hoag: I am very happy because this is our first major title. We played focused, without given any errors or letting anything stop us from the objective to win today. I am very proud of my players; they all performed very well. Now let us aim for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Canada captain Frederic Winters: We have played very well and it was clear that the Portuguese players were tired due to their difficult and late match against Netherlands. That was an advantage for us. Now we are curious to know which players may be selected for Rio 2016.
Portugal coach Francisco Santos: I believe that yesterday we played all we could and today the players were tired. That was shown in the second set when we had the upper hand and lost several points in attack, which is not normal for us. It is a bitter taste. However, we stay confident as we are already starting to think at the Men's European Championship Qualification in September. We will work hard to qualify for the final stage of this competition.
Portugal captain Alexandre Ferreira: Yesterday was a true final for us. We gave everything that we had; we had spent all our adrenaline. In the second set, we had the opportunity to turn the score around but, again, we did not have enough energy to pull trough. Congratulations to Canada because they played very well and they are a very good team.