South Korea vs. Cuba: 2011 FIVB World League – Volleyball news
South Korea thrashed a splendid 3-0 (25-20, 29-27, and 25-18) victory over Cuba on Saturday, May 28. Korea was tagged as the host team and it took full advantage of playing in familiar conditions.
The Korean team created a lovely opportunity for home crowd to celebrate the victory in opening match of the 2011 FIVB World League. The Suwon Indoor Gymnasium in Suwon, Korea echoed the victory slogans of fans.
It was the 22nd appearance of the Cuban team on the courts of FIVB World League, while Korea qualified for the competition for the 13th time. Cuba was generally considered the more experienced side and its players had more exposure
at international events. Nonetheless, the disturbing straight-set defeat stunned them more than anyone else. It has forced them to think of better game-plan for the next matches.
The head coach of Caribbean team, Orlando Samuels, was under the assumption that he had a better team, which would easily be able to hold off Korea. It turned out to be different scenario as Korean side demonstrated a convincing performance. Cuban coach
praised the good work of Korean team and congratulated them for their impressive play.
Cuban captain, Wilfredo Leon, also shared his views after the match ended. He said that his team has not been able to give out a satisfactory performance in the opening match. In his opinion, the frequent reception errors proved to be the obvious reason
of his team’s failure. Nonetheless, he hoped that they will cover-up the deficit in the coming matches. He assured a promising performance in their next match on Korean soil tomorrow, Sunday, May 29.
On the other hand, the captain of the home team, Yong-Min Kwon, received a handful of applause from everyone. He credited the young and determined players in his team for such an amazing victory. He said that the team followed the vision of head coach, Mr.
Park KI-won, and clinched success. Meanwhile, the captain Kwon especially took out the names of Yeo and Oh-Hyun, who greatly contributed to the success of the Korean team.
Korean mentor, Mr. Park, stated, “Main factor of today's victory is the passion and fighting spirit of young players. Their services were very strong and blocked Cuba players in important moment. The 2nd set was the point of victory today and fortunately
Korea players managed to keep focusing on the match and got the 2nd set. We have been training very hard but still have works to fix it up. Speedy attacks worked very well and Setter No.2 HAN, Sun-Soo distributed balls in effect way. Considering the short
period of time, I am very happy for the good result. “
Korean team is determined to keep up the same energy in next match and keep their winning streak going.
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