World Cup 2011

    Quote from kadir_8

    Poland got one wild card for sure.I think the other wild card must go to another European team.Everybody(except FIVB) knows that European Championship's quality is higher than even World Championship. 2 best team in ECH will go to World Cup so FIVB must give the 2nd wild card to team which will finish 3rd in ECH.


    Totally agree! In Europe there are so many good teams: Russia, Italy, Serbia, Poland, Turkey, Germany, Netherlands. Also other teams like Croatia shows good level. From Europe 3 best should advance, although Poland probably will get one wild card, if NT isn't in final .

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    Quote from kondzio

    Totally agree! In Europe there are so many good teams: Russia, Italy, Serbia, Poland, Turkey, Germany, Netherlands. Also other teams like Croatia shows good level. From Europe 3 best should advance, although Poland probably will get one wild card, if NT isn't in final .


    They never give two wild cards to the same continent. I'm not judging if they should or shouldn't, but there's no precedent, so I think it's rather unlikely.


    99: Peru and Italy (female); Spain and Canada (male)
    03: Dominican Republic and Italy (female); Serbia and Egypt (male)
    07: Dominican Republic and Poland (female); Bulgaria and Korea (male)

    Quote from yates

    They never give two wild cards to the same continent. I'm not judging if they should or shouldn't, but there's no precedent, so I think it's rather unlikely.


    99: Peru and Italy (female); Spain and Canada (male)
    03: Dominican Republic and Italy (female); Serbia and Egypt (male)
    07: Dominican Republic and Poland (female); Bulgaria and Korea (male)


    If it will be like you said main candidates are Dominican Republic and Poland. If Dominican Republic qualify by NORCECA second probably will be Cuba. I don't think that Poland will play in final ECH, they are better teams in Europe. Other possibility instead of NORCECA team could be Korea or Thailand (if won't qualify).

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    FIVB certainly help both teams :D male and female

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    If I am not mistaken, there will be 12 teams playing the World Cup


    SOUTH AMERICA: CHAMPION AND 1ST RUNNER UP
    With all due respect to the other South American teams, Brazil will qualify as the champions and the 1st runner up can be either Argentina or Peru.


    NORCECA: CHAMPION AND 1ST RUNNER UP
    I believe USA will be NORCECA's'champions and the 1st runner up can be either Dominican Republic, Cuba or Puerto Rico, but I believe USA and Dominican Republic will qualify.


    CEV:CHAMPION AND 1ST RUNNER UP
    It is very hard to predict: Serbia, Russia, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Poland and Turkey can be the European Champions. I have no clue about the European teams wich will qualify.


    ASIA: CHAMPION AND 1ST RUNNER UP
    I believe Thailand, China and Korea will fight for these two spots. I think Kazakhstan is evolving but not enough to qualify for the World Cup


    AFRICA: CHAMPION


    Algeria, Egypt or Kenia will qualify


    HOST COUNTRY: Japan


    WILD CARD #1


    WILD CARD #2

    SOUTH AMERICA: 1ST RUNNER UP


    I hope Argentina continues to develop. They have some young players with solid fundamentals and just need more experience. Peru's performance at the WGP was embarrassing considering that many of their players are late 20's-30's


    NORCECA: CHAMPION AND 1ST RUNNER UP
    Hopefully, USA will take first but Dominican Republic can always surprise is they are playing very well. Cuba's level looked really bad at WGP. DR and Cuba will battle it out for the second spot. Puerto Rico's players getting older and aren't getting better. They won't be contenders


    CEV:CHAMPION AND 1ST RUNNER UP
    It will come down to these three: Serbia, Russia, Italy


    Germany, Netherlands, Poland and Turkey aren't quite there yet



    ASIA: CHAMPION AND 1ST RUNNER UP
    China should definitely take 1st place.


    The second spot is up for grabs between Korea and Thailand. Hope Korea takes it so we can see more of Y.K. Kim!



    AFRICA: CHAMPION


    Give this position to CEV! :)

    I think it is really unfair that Europa has the same amount of spots as South America or NORCECA, it is just ...I actually have no good word for it...anoys me!

    FIVB World Cup


    The FIVB World Cup is a men's and women's volleyball competition. Created in 1965 (men) and 1973 (women), it is an international qualification event for the Olympic Games. It is not to be confused with the FIVB World Championship or the FIVB World League/FIVB World Grand Prix.


    Origins
    The World Cup was created in 1965 with the purpose of partially filling the gap between the two most important volleyball tournaments, the Olympic Games and the World Championship, which take place in alternating 4-year cycles. The establishment of a third international competition would leave only one in every four years with no major events.


    The World Cup was to be held in the year following the Olympic Games. The first two tournaments were for men's volleyball only; in 1973, a women's tournament was also introduced. Originally, each tournament had a different host, but in 1977 the competition was transferred to Japan on a permanent basis.


    In the 1990s, the installment of annual international events such as the World League and the Grand Prix made the original motivations for the creation of the World Cup obsolete. Instead of letting a consolidated event disappear for lack of interest, the FIVB decided to change its format in 1991: it would be held in the year preceding, and not following, the Olympic Games; and it would be considered a first international Olympic qualification tournament, granting the winner a direct berth in the games.


    This move saved the competition. The possibility of securing an early berth for the Olympic Games, thus avoiding extraneous and in some cases tight continental qualification procedures, became a consistent motivation for the national federations to participate in the World Cup. In 1995, the number of Olympic spots granted at the competition was increased to three, as it remains up to now (2005).


    Winners (Women)
    The Women's World Cup has had not one great winner, like its counterpart for men's volleyball, but two: Cuba and China.


    The first edition of the tournament was won by the Soviet Union. Japan, the runner-up of 1973, took the gold in 1977. With the help of superstar player Lang Ping, China won the following two editions, in 1981 and 1985.


    Then Cuba stepped forward to begin its amazing World Cup career, winning its first title in 1989. With the tournament now as an Olympic qualifier, there followed three more consecutive victories, in 1991, 1995 and 1999.


    China came back in 2003 with a remarkably offensive team to win its third title.


    Finally Italy won the 2007 edition with an outstanding record of eleven wins in eleven games and only two sets left to the opponents (both lost against Serbia).


    Competition formula
    The World Cup is the most stable from all competition formulas employed by the FIVB. The following rules apply:


    The competition takes place in Japan.


    Twelve teams participate in each event: ten qualified, two per invitation.


    Japan is always pre-qualified as host nation.


    Five continental champions are qualified plus the best four continental vice-champions according to the FIVB ranking.


    The remaining two teams participate through wild cards granted by the FIVB.


    Since the 1999 edition, only teams not yet qualified for the following Olympic Games can compete in the World Cup.


    The competition is divided in exactly two phases (called "legs").


    Teams are divided in two pools.


    At the first leg, each team plays one match against all other teams in its pool.


    At the second leg, each team plays one match against all the teams in the other pool.


    Matches take place continuously through two weeks, with one-day breaks every two or three days. Each day, six matches are played.


    Final standings are calculated by usual volleyball criteria: number of wins, point ratio (the total number of points won divided by the total number of points lost), set ratio, direct
    confrontation.


    Top three teams in overall standings, regardless of pools, qualify for the following Olympic Games.


    The tournament implements very tight line-up restrictions: only twelve players are allowed, and no replacement is permitted, even in the case of injuries.


    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIVB_World_Cup

    "Lo sbaglio più grande e quello di credere di aver vinto prima ancora di giocare la partita"

    Quote from TheUSAFAN

    ASIA: CHAMPION AND 1ST RUNNER UP
    China should definitely take 1st place.

    are you serious? anyone who knows china volleyball situation will definitely not agree with your assessment.


    I can see Japan, Korea or even Thailand take that 1st place, but definitely not china. The whole chinese team is a mess. I doubt if they can qualify for the word cup. :thumbdown:

    Quote from lyp2004

    are you serious? anyone who knows china volleyball situation will definitely not agree with your assessment.


    I can see Japan, Korea or even Thailand take that 1st place, but definitely not china. The whole chinese team is a mess. I doubt if they can qualify for the word cup. :thumbdown:


    I didn't mention Japan because they're already qualified as hosts so their placement is irrelevant. Therefore it's between Thailand, Korea and China. By no means are things running smoothly for the Chinese, but Korea is pretty weak at all other positions besides Y.K. Kim and I think you have to consider China as the favorites in that match. Thailand had a good showing at the WGP but there is much more on the line at the Asian Championships and I expect the Chinese to rise to the occasion. Time will tell. If I'm wrong, feel free to write a long "I told you so" post....I won't mind :)

    The Thais won the Asian Championship in 2009 and have played well in the World Grand Prix. South Korea could have went to the Finals if not facing Japan twice and Serbia on the final day of the preliminary round. Yes they are pretty much a one-woman team.


    I would think that a team like Serbia or Poland would be more deserving due to the World Rankings for a Wild Card position.

    Kim Yeon-Koung is a very good attacker, but she's no Gamova. If all the other players were so weak, I don't think Korea would've achieved the good results they have last GP. This korean team style resembles Korea in the 90's, when Chang Yoon-Hee would be the biggest offensive weapon of the team. I see it as team effort: the other girls work really hard, especially in the deffensive aspects of the game, so that Kim can kill the balls. But I don't think the team is weak as a whole except for this one player.


    China is having a rough year - or some rough couple of years, or so -, but I don't expect them to sink any lower. Not qualifying to the WC would be catastrophical. I at least hope they can perform better at the Asian Champs.

    FIVB criteria is political, not technical. As far as I know a wild card team has never grabbed the Olympic spot in the WC, which means FIVB tends to choose the weaker teams so that the other teams, which did well in the continental championships, will have more chances of qualifying for the OG.


    The only exception, in my opinion, was the choice of Italy in 2003.


    I believe that happens because a tournament which is long and played in the round-robin system runs the risk of becoming too balanced and maybe two strong teams teams from the same continent can kill each other's qualification chances. Then, they would have to face each other again in the continental qualification tournament. I believe this is especially true in Europe's case.

    Quote from Celso

    FIVB criteria is political, not technical. As far as I know a wild card team has never grabbed the Olympic spot in the WC, which means FIVB tends to choose the weaker teams so that the other teams, which did well in the continental championships, will have more chances of qualifying for the OG.


    The only exception, in my opinion, was the choice of Italy in 2003.


    I believe that happens because a tournament which is long and played in the round-robin system runs the risk of becoming too balanced and maybe two strong teams teams from the same continent can kill each other's qualification chances. Then, they would have to face each other again in the continental qualification tournament. I believe this is especially true in Europe's case.


    In the male side of the competition they have, though. Serbia in 03 and Bulgaria in 07. But I'm not disagreeing with you. Obviously the political criteria overcomes the technical one by a wide margin in most decisions of the Federation.

    Joanamms how will look South American Championships' Groups?
    Maybe Peru or Argentina and Colombia will be in one Group and Brazil will eliminate one of these Teams in Semi-Finals?