Milan, Italy, September 22, 2018 – On Saturday, the Netherlands beat Finland 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-16, 25-13) to improve their record to five wins and two losses in Pool E in Milan.
Nimir Abdel-Aziz, captain of the Netherlands: “We are satisfied with this victory also because it is a sign that the Netherlands are returning among the top teams in the world, just like they used to be back in the ‘90s. It was beautiful to play in such a full venue! We are not used to this kind of crowds. We really love being here!”
Gido Vermeulen, coach of the Netherlands: “I am happy with the way we played the match from a technical point of view. We used a very efficient strategy with our blocks. Finland, in the second set, gave us a bit of a headache with their good serves, but we were able to regain confidence. I am very happy with all my players and each one of them gave their contribution towards achieving this win.”
Urpo Sivula, player of Finland: “Obviously there is great disappointment. Even if I played well, this does not make me happy since my team lost. Finland played good volleyball only for 20 minutes and this is not enough when you are competing in a World Championship.”
Finland coach Tuomas Sammelvuo: “After the first two sets we really believed we could make it. Maybe if we had kept up the same energy we put in the second set, we could have reached a better result. Unfortunately we ran out of strength, especially our attacks became weak and our opponents, instead, grew in intensity and organised better their defensive line.”