Varna, Bulgaria, September 11, 2018 - The head coaches of the six teams in Pool D of the 1028 FIVB Men’s World Championship in Varna think that this is probably the toughest of all four pools. But for every one of them progressing to the second round is the first goal of the tournament.
Vital Heynen, head coach of Poland: "As a coach of the world champions I know one thing – Poland will not do better than four years ago. That is for sure. I have a feeling it’s gonna be a great championship. Everything is there to have a great one. I hope it will be like this."
Nicolas Ernesto Vives Coffigny, head coach of Cuba: "We are a very young team. We came with a great motivation and our goal is to progress to the second round. This is a very strong pool but each and every one of our players will give his best."
Oswald Antonetti Cameron, head coach of Puerto Rico: "I would like to say thank you for the hospitality. We would like to keep getting better. It’s a great competition for us. We want to try and play at the level of our opponents and we’re very excited."
Igor Kolakovic, head coach of Iran: "Conditions in the venue in Varna are excellent. I was here previously with the national team of Serbia. But now, after the renovation, this venue is world class. We came here to fight for every game. We have to play with heart, not by routine. If we play by routine only, we won’t achieve anything."
Tuomas Sammelvuo, head coach of Finland: "We already played one game and the tournament already started for us. For Finland it's a great honour to be here, playing in a second consecutive FIVB Men's World Championship. We had four days to prepare for the next game. We expect thousands of Finnish fans will be here to support us. As for our young team – the excitement and emotions from the first game have already gone. We’ll just focus on playing better and better, fight for every ball and do our best to try and reach the second round."
Plamen Konstantinov, head coach of Bulgaria: "I would like to say “Welcome” to all my colleagues. I wish them a successful tournament and I hope they enjoy the whole atmosphere. I think Pool D is very strong. Some of the teams are among the world's best. The others are very young but play with enormous desire. I’m sure there will be no easy matches for us. With the current formula every match is equally important."