CWCH 2018 M: Zenit Kazan want to keep the trophy, can they make it?

Vladimir Alekno

The reigning champions Zenit Kazan will have a difficult task to retain the trophy of the Club World Championship. 

They will be playing in Pool A along with Skra, Lube and Fakel. 

“The first match we play against Fakel and it will be a very important match. I expect my players to be one real team in the game and to show the best we can do,” says Vladimir Alekno, the head coach of Zenit.

“If you are not playing 100% you can’t win this Championship, so we want to play as best we can. Each of the teams is dangerous for us, as much as we are dangerous for others. We are playing against some special teams like Lube or Zenit Kazan, but also Fakel have great players who can win in any situation. So right now I don’t think about the others – I want to focus on our team and follow the system we have,” explains Roberto Piazza, the head coach of Skra.

Lube and Zenit will meet in the Group stage and it’s going to be a remake of the last year’s clash that these two teams had in the final:

“I don’t know which match will be the hardest, but for sure the first one is very important. Our pool is very balanced and all four teams are very strong and playing great volleyball. So for us, it’s very important to win tomorrow. If you start in a losing position it will be very difficult to reach the finals,” says Giampaolo Medei, a head coach of Lube.

Sada Cruzeiro are always seeking for the trophies:

“This is the biggest tournament for clubs and we will do our best to win, though we know it’s going to be difficult for us. But we also know that our team is quite new, we have changed a lot of players, but we will do our best to win and stay till the end. It is a big honor to be here again. We are happy to be back – but firstly, big congratulations for the organizers and hosts here. This is a country of volleyball! We feel it and we are so happy to be here again. All the teams here are good. We know that Trentino are favourites but we don’t know what will happen. Maybe we will provide some surprises,” says Marcelo Mendez, Sada Cruzeiro’s coach. 

Club World Championship schedule, day 1:

POOL A:

PGE Skra Belchatow – Lube Civitanova 17:30 CET

Zenit Kazan – Fakel Noviy Urengoy 20:30 CET

POOL B:

Trentino – Ardakan 17:30 CET

Resovia – Sada Cruzeiro 20:30 CET

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