Eboli, Italy, June 11, 2018 - The coaches and captains of the national teams of Brazil, Belgium, Thailand and hosts Italy met with media representatives in Eboli ahead of the last week of VNL Preliminary Round play.
Italy coach Davide Mazzanti said: “We will face very different teams, the first will be Thailand who last year put us in trouble. Against the Asian teams we know that it is essential to have a good organization of the game. Belgium, on the other hand, are a young and renewed group, while for Brazil the memory of the last final of the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix is still fresh and for this reason we have a great desire to play against them”.
Italy captain Cristina Chirichella: “I am excited because tomorrow I will play for the first time in Italy as captain of the national team. Moreover I will do it in my land, in front of almost all my relatives [laughs]. We know that we are playing an important qualification, the feelings inside the team are very good, we can’t wait to start."
Thailand coach Danai Sriwacharamaytakul said: “We want to thank the local organization for the warm welcome. For us this is an excellent opportunity to compare with some of the top teams in the world and we will also have the honour of playing in one of the countries where volleyball was born. We will do our best to get good results.”
Thailand captain Pleumjit Thinkaow: “For us it is a great opportunity to face opponents who play a more modern volleyball than ours. We will give the maximum in every game, playing with much enthusiasm and commitment. We know it will not be easy because we will face very strong teams.”
Brazil coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes: “We are very proud to play in Italy, one of the most important countries for volleyball. We're playing for qualification and it's a very strong pool. Last year against Thailand we lost, while we won the final of the World Grand Prix against Italy. Belgium are always a difficult opponent to beat. We will try to do our best, we want to qualify for the Final Six.”
Belgium coach Gert Vande Broek said: “We are very happy to be here, Italy is certainly a homeland of volleyball. For us it will be an important experience, we want to conclude in the best way the Volleyball Nations League. This is a very difficult pool and I'm curious to see how my team will play against some of the best teams in the world.”
Belgium captain Ilka Van de Vyver said: “We will try to give our best. We want to play without thinking about the result and having good performances in these three matches.”