Translated material
Argentine beginning
In the first round of the World Cup, the Russians defeated the South Americans
The Russian team began its participation in the World Cup, which started yesterday in Japan, with a victory. In the opening match, head coach Vladimir Alekno's team defeated Argentina without any problems - 3:0 (25:16, 25:22, 25:17). Today our volleyball players will play with the 2007 champion of Asia and Oceania, Australia.The World Cup is held according to the fairest system - round robin. A dozen teams will sort things out among themselves over the course of two weeks in different cities in Japan. The calendar is designed in such a way that the tournament is divided into four gaming sessions of two or three matches. Between them there is a day off and the participants move to other arenas. Before the last session there is a pause of two days. By the way, it is in the final segment of the competition that the Russian team will face battles with its main rivals - Bulgaria (November 30), Brazil (December 1) and the USA (December 2). In addition to the above-mentioned teams, the sensational 2007 European champion Spain, with whom Russia plays in the sixth round on November 25, can also claim to be among the top three winners, giving the right to acquire tickets to the 2008 Olympics. However, with all due respect to the team from the Iberian Peninsula, we note that its chances of taking a place on the podium still seem illusory. Over the long course of the tournament, the Spaniards may face unplanned losses, and they have also lost one of the main creators of continental success - national team coach Andrea Anastasi, who most recently headed his native Squadra Azzura.
In the next four rounds, Russia is unlikely to lose points - Australia, Tunisia, Korea, Japan are not among the opponents who can cause game problems for our volleyball players. Perhaps, in the first five matches, yesterday's opponent Argentina posed the greatest threat. This country has a fairly strong national championship; some Argentine players are in demand in the strongest club leagues in the world. Suffice it to recall libero Pablo Meana and blocker Alejandro Spajic, who played for Lokomotiv-Belogorye in its heyday. True, now they do not play in the national team, and there is only one representative of the Russian Super League - Yaroslavich's diagonal striker Lucas Chavez.
The strength of the Argentine national team is evidenced by the fact that a few days ago the team in a uniform with traditional blue and white vertical stripes was able to defeat the famous Italian club Gabeca (Montichiari) - 3:2. True, on Sunday the Russians never allowed their superiority to be doubted. Alekno in the starting lineup included diagonal Semyon Poltavsky, libero Alexei Verbov, finishing players Pavel Abramov and Sergei Tetyukhin, setter Vadim Khamuttskikh, blockers Alexey Ostapenko and Alexey Kuleshov. Pavel Kruglov, Sergey Grankin and Alexander Volkov came on as replacements.
Yesterday, the first serious clash between the two contenders for Olympic spots took place, which ended with a relatively sensational result - the Americans defeated Brazil with a score of 3:0 (28:26, 30:28, 25:20). However, it was assumed in advance that the South Americans would not look as menacing as before. Due to a conflict with head coach Bernardinho, the most valuable player of the 2007 World League final tournament, setter Ricardo, has been outside the Brazilian national team since the second half of July. Marcelinho, who took his place in the starting lineup, does not pass as quickly as his eminent colleague in the role, and the world leader of recent seasons is no longer so formidable, as the American team proved. Five volleyball players from Russian championship clubs play for the Stars and Stripes - setter Lloy Ball, diagonal Clayton Stanley (both Dynamo-TTG, Kazan), blocker Thomas Hoff (Fakel from Novy Urengoy), finisher Sean Rooney (Dynamo-Yantar, Kaliningrad) and William Priddy (Lokomotiv Novosibirsk).
Last week the Women's World Cup ended, in which the Russian team did not participate. The victory went to the Italians, who won all 11 matches, the “silver” went to Brazil, and the “bronze” to the Americans. Our team will take part in the final tournament of the European Olympic qualification from January 14 to 20. Teams from Poland, Serbia, Germany, Romania, Holland, Turkey and Croatia will also play in Halle, Germany.
Results. World Cup. 1st round. Russia - Argentina - 3:0, Brazil - USA - 0:3, Australia - Korea - 3:2, Japan - Tunisia - 2:3, Egypt - Puerto Rico - 0: 3, Bulgaria - Spain - 3:1.