Puerto Rican Team is ready to clash with defending champions
This is the first time that the National Volleyball Team of Puerto Rico has qualified for men’s elite international event, the FIVB World League.
The tournament will be kicked off on May 27 and 16 teams from different parts of the world will join the action. Puerto Rico has been placed in the Pool A along with the reigning champions Brazil, equally proficient Americans and hosts of Final Round Poland.
Brazil will be defending the title this year. Moreover, the Brazilian team has cinched most number of titles since the start of FIVB World League in 1990. Team Brazil has always staged a stellar performance and kept their dominance in the sport. They are
shaped up to add another gold medal to their count in the upcoming event. Brazil is set to open the tournament by taking on Puerto Rico.
Besides the defending champions, Pool A has strong American squad. Team USA grabbed silver medal in 2008 FIVB World League, while the gold medal at 2010 Grand Prix is their last big achievement.
The U.S. team is also enjoying their top form and they will surely put up a great show of volleyball. In the first week, Puerto Rico has no matches against USA but the two sides will strike in the second spell of the preliminary robin round. Puerto Rico
is scheduled to play two matches against USA, which are expected to create a lot of buzz.
Quite recently, the assistant coach of Puerto Rican team Ramon Hernandez shared his views about pool members.
He stated, “We are playing in the group with the world champions and last year’s winners, who have won almost everything in the sport, which is Brazil. Also we will play against the US who are Olympic champions, and Poland who are European champions. The
expectations are to stay in World League, and for that we need to win games. The challenge is very big, but this group has always distinguished itself by accepting all the challenges and moving forward.”
In addition to the two top teams of the tournament, Puerto Rico will have to deal with Poland as well. The Poles have a competitive edge in the game as Poland will host the Final Round of the tournament.
Being the host of final round, Poland will automatically advance to the final round. Hence, they will have no pressure on them in the preliminary round. Poland and Puerto Rico will cross their way in the third spell of the robin round. Poland is equally
dangerous for Puerto Rico.
Consider all these factors; Puerto Rico is in an interesting scenario. The team, which is going to give its first appearance at the podium of FIVB World League, has to do a lot in the upcoming campaign.
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