Coaches
Coach Radostin Stoytchev, who guided his forces to three consecutive crowns here, took a cautious position during the press conference held on Friday night, but still hopes for the best against a very strong competition as they start their campaign for a four-peat.
“We have won three in a row but we have a great deal of respect for all our rivals,” Stoytchev said. “It is a new era for our club and we hope for the best.”
Two other main contenders should be the talented team of Zenit Kazan of Russia and PGE Skra Belchatow of Poland, both of whom stand out in the eight-team strong field.
Trentino Diatec play Al-Rayyan of Qatar in the nightcap of opening day at 19:00 preceded by two other matches. Sada Cruzeiro of Brazil meet Mexico’s Tigres de Nuevo Leon at 15:00 followed by the contest between Skra Belchatow and Zamalek of Egypt at 17:00.
The coaches of the squads commented about their goals for the annual event during the press conference held immediately after the conclusion of the general technical meeting.
Here follows their statements:
Mauro Grasso, coach of Al-Arabi: “It is a real pleasure to play in this competition as our team is based in Qatar. We are bringing some foreign players to help us to have a good presentation and give the people a good volleyball spectacle.”
Igor Arbutina, coach of Al-Rayyan: “We feel very proud about participating as a home team and our expectations are to represent our club well and maybe get the chance of winning some games”.
Jacek Nawrocki, coach of PGE Skra Belchatow: “For me is the third time taking part in this event and our hope is to equal our best finishes here. We have twice finished in second and we would like to do better but the level is better and better every year.”
Marcelo Mendez, coach of Sada Cruzeiro: “We are so happy about playing in this tournament and our goal is to go as high as possible. We are glad to be here and hope to enjoy a good competition.”
Jorge Azair, coach of Tigres of Nuevo Leon: “For us this is the first time taking part in this competition against the best clubs in the world. It is a great experience for us and we are ready to go and show the kind of volleyball we play in Mexico.”
Radostin Stoytchev, coach of Trentino Diatec: “It is our fourth consecutive tournament here and we have won three in a row. We are here prepared to play against all our rivals with all due respect to them. It is a new era for our club and we hope to do our best.”
Mohamed Ellakany, coach of Zamalek: “”It is my first time here but the second for my team. We have to play good to advance against so many good clubs. We will do our best effort to play our best volleyball.”
Vladimir Alekno, coach of Zenit Kazan: “First of all, we very glad to be here again and our main goal is to play good volleyball. We will do our best trying to win as many matches as possible.”
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