Varna, Bulgaria, September 12, 2018 – Poland started their world title defence by winning their opening match in Pool D of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship. Coach Vital Heynen's players beat two-time silver medallists Cuba 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 25-14).
Vital Heynen, coach of Poland: “I was sure and told my players that it was going to be a hard match. I saw some really high-potential players in Cuba’s team like Marlon Herrera and Miguel Castro. The fans were incredible! We’re proud of our supporters! I expect a good equivalent game tomorrow and I am sure that our team will be completely ready.”
Grzegorz Lomacz, player of Poland: “Cuba has a young, but very talented and explosive team. As you saw, we had some problems in the third set, but our experience helped us a lot. Our team works step by step and we are looking forward to our next game tomorrow against the team of Puerto Rico."
Javier Rojas, player of Cuba: “We knew that it was going to be a tough match because we played against the current world champions. We tried very hard, we even won the third set but at the end Poland were the better team on the court.”
Niclas Coffigny, coach of Cuba: “It is always hard to play against the world champions especially in your first game of such a big tournament. The Polish team played good volleyball and it showed really great blocking skills. I hope that we will be better in the next matches.”