Let's hope Russia and Bulgaria get gold and silver, RESPECTIVELY.
World Cup 2007
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Quote from "Russkii"
WC is a whole different tournament, with a much bigger level of tension and responsability.
WC is a different tournament: true.
But the average level is lower than at the ECH, with half of the teams not having the level of European teams.
As for the tension, they prove they were way better than Russia to control it.
And Bulgaria is not really a model of self control either.But the problem with Russia are the play-off matches, and there won't be any at the WC. If they take a good start they'll probably be unstoppable.
Bulgaria... They are typically the kind of team that is unable to play at the same level for 9 games.
They will play perfectly one day, and lousy the day just after.
With the WC formula, this may cost them a lot. Depending on which days they'll play well and which day they'll play bad ... -
You make some valid point, but I have a slightly different perspective. Let's see.
QuoteWC is a different tournament: true.
But the average level is lower than at the ECH, with half of the teams not having the level of European teams.
True, but there is a subtle difference which should be noted. Which are the strong teams missing from Europe? Serbia, Poland, Italy, France - there are some other good teams, but are minor. In the other hand, which are the strong teams coming from out of Europe? Brazil and USA.
Ok, we are changing 4 strong teams for 2. However, while the ammount of tough matches in the European Championship is much higher, the tough matches in the WC are harder than the hard matches in the ECH. Know what I mean?
Why I say this? Well, let's analyse each team individualy. France? Good team, no doubt, but it's not on the same level as most of the other top teams, and it is not very a consistent team. Italy? The CURRENT Italian team is the worst of all the top teams, in my opinion. Serbia? Hard to guess, as far as I know they are renewing their team, but they still rely on some of the more experience players. Poland? Ok, this one is the strongest team of the ones who were left behind, as their last results show.
That said, we should both agree that Brazil is fairly stronger than any of these teams, as the last years have shown. As for the USA, I think it's better than all of them too, except for Poland.
So, that's why I say the exchance between the 4 European teams for the two American teams is fair, and maybe it makes the WC a little harder.QuoteAs for the tension, they prove they were way better than Russia to control it.
It was true for the last game, but still I insist, WC is a different thing altogether. The fact Spain could hold their own better than Russia in ECH doesn't mean the same will happen in the WC.
If anything, the odds are that Spanish players will feel the pressure and tension much more than the Russkiis, regardless of what happened in ECH, for MANY reasons.
First of all because of the difference in tradition. Russian volleyball has the biggest History, while Spain has ZERO. That counts a lot.
Even if you ignore the past of both teams and take into consideration only the current players, the difference is still abysmal. A good deal of these Russian players were silver medalists in OG 2000 and bronze in 2004. Silver in WCH 2002, won a WL and disputed world class competition on many tournaments. What about Spanish players? They have none of this experience. I think it is the first major championship Spain ever plays, and that means a lot.
Third of all, Russian team is used to face top competition such as Brazil and USA, while Spanish team is not. Ok, you might argue that this could be a positive surprising effect, but I think the lack of experience far surpasses the surprise effect.
Forth, it's a different atmosphere in WC, one that Spain is not used to.
Fifth, well, what happened in European final can't be used as a good parameter. Spain was playing her most important match ever, and Russia did not care so much - not an excuse, Spain won fair and square - like Alekno himself said before the match that the most important was the spot in the WC, not the title, which I think is SO stupid considering the Championship was held in Russia, and they should had done EVERYTHING to win it.
So I don't think the game can be used to show Spanish players are better at controlling tension and pressure. They won because they played better, not because of any psychological factor.
But I know why you say this. It is not only this final, yeah, you are right, I agree. One silver in OG, one silver in WCH, lost a semi final in last OG, there was this last WL which Russia could had won. There is also the fact that Russia is currently THREE times silver medal in European Championship, which is pretty ridiculous, indeed. In many years all Russia has won was one WL. While this could not mean much if Russia hadn't a great team, the fact of the matter is that this Russian generation is very talented, so all of these upsets really show that there is a problem in controlling tension and pressure - which is fairly unusual for Russian athletes I might add. I won't argue this point, because I think you are right. All I am saying is that this PARTICULAR match against Spain can be explained through other factors, and that it does not prove at all that Spain will control their minds better at the WC than Russians, because I doubt they will.
Don't take me wrong, except for Russia and Bulgaria, I will be cheering for Spain - even though they pissed me off, LOL - but I wouldn't bet they are going very far.QuoteBut the problem with Russia are the play-off matches, and there won't be any at the WC. If they take a good start they'll probably be unstoppable.
Reffer to the above, I think you are mostly right. And by the way, I hope you are correct. Honestly, I want to see how Brazil will fare without Ricardo, and I think our chances are pretty good.
QuoteAnd Bulgaria is not really a model of self control either.
Bulgaria... They are typically the kind of team that is unable to play at the same level for 9 games.
They will play perfectly one day, and lousy the day just after.
With the WC formula, this may cost them a lot. Depending on which days they'll play well and which day they'll play bad ...I totally agree with you here. That's why I think they lack what it takes to win such a tournament.
You think this might be because they rely too much on their service? -
I personally keep my fingers crossed for Bulgaria and Spain, third team can be anyone
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Quote from "Ann"
I personally keep my fingers crossed for Bulgaria and Spain, third team can be anyone
Great, thank you for the support.
And for those who say that we don't have chance to win the competition, they'll see. Our main point is to play at the Olympic Games, but we we'll try to win the cup. -
I keep my finger crossed for Spain and... Australia, but I don't think it will help much in this second case
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Russkii, I completely agree with you about Italy, France and Serbia.
But I think that teams like Germany, Greece, Finland or Czech Republic are better than Egypt, Tunisia, Australia, Japan or Korea.
Canada and Cuba are also teams that could have improved this WC level.Quote from "Russkii"Even if you ignore the past of both teams and take into consideration only the current players, the difference is still abysmal. A good deal of these Russian players were silver medalists in OG 2000 and bronze in 2004. Silver in WCH 2002, won a WL and disputed world class competition on many tournaments. What about Spanish players? They have none of this experience.
There I do not agree. The main spanish players are really experienced like brothers falasca, Molto , De la Fuente, and Rafael Pascual of course . And Spain was already semifinalist at the 2005 European Championship. (I agree that this is not much compared to the other top teams, but they are not "that new" in international competitions)
It's true they will lack some games against Brazil or USA. But Brazil and USA will lack games against them the same way.
What may be a bigger problem to Spain is that they always play with exactly the same players. It's doubtful they will be able to play all the games. Some of them will probably be replaced for easier games. How will the substitute perform then ?
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Quote from "Konrad"
I keep my finger crossed for Spain and... Australia, but I don't think it will help much in this second case
im sooo not informed about male's volleyball. so i will root for spain as well... and just cos u have dziekiewicz as an avatar well and i heard a rumor that spanish players are hot
i think i will have to decide what team to root for after the first day, i must check the players out first :twisted:
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Would be great see Russia, USA and Spain in first '3' heh :wink2:
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Quote from "Justyna"
Would be great see Russia, USA and Spain in first '3' heh :wink2:
Unfortunately for you, it won't happen because both Bulgaria and Brazil will be in the first 3 teams.
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Quote from "Nastja"
im sooo not informed about male's volleyball. so i will root for spain as well... and just cos u have dziekiewicz as an avatar well and i heard a rumor that spanish players are hot
I must say that your avatar is even nicer :oops: And about Spanish players... I'm not realy interseted if they're hot or not But I don't say it is not possible... -
Quote from "AFROMAN"
Unfortunately for you, it won't happen because both Bulgaria and Brazil will be in the first 3 teams.
Impressive self-confidence :wink2: But who knows? -
Quote from "Konrad"
Impressive self-confidence :wink2: But who knows?Yeah, but it's not a self-confidence, I believe in the team, they hold everything in their hands and they'll make it, I'm sure.
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World Cup 2007 ready to start tomorrow in Japan
The Head Coaches after the World Cup press conference in MatsumotoArgentina
1 Marcos Milinkovic
2 Gustavo Scholtis
3 Diego Stepanenko
4 Luciano De Cecco
6 Santiago Orduna
9 Lucas Chavez
11 Tomás Layus
12 Martin Meana
13 Guillermo Garcia
15 Rodrigo Quiroga
17 Rodrigo Aschemacher
18 Gaston GianiAustralia
2 Jarryd Christensen
3 Nathan Roberts
4 Benjamin Hardy
5 Luke Campbell
6 Igor Yudin
7 Matthew Young
8 Andrew Grant
9 Andrew Earl
11 Phillip DeSalvo
13 David Ferguson
17 Paul Carroll
18 Brett AldermanBrazil
1 Rezende Bruno - Bruno
2 Marcelo Elgarten - Marcelinho
4 André Heller - André Heller
6 Samuel Fuchs - Samuel
7 Gilberto Godoy Filho - Giba
8 Murilo Endres - Murilo
9 André Luiz da Silva Nascimento - André
10 Sérgio Dutra Santos - Sérgio
11 Anderson Rodrigues - Anderson
13 Gustavo Endres - Gustavo
14 Rodrigo Santana - Rodrigão
18 Dante Guimaraes Amaral - Dante
Bulgaria
1 Evgeni Ivanov
2 Hristo Tsvetanov
3 Andrey Zhekov
4 Boyan Yordanov
5 Krasimir Gaydarski
6 Matey Kaziyski
7 Nikolay Nikolov
8 Ivan Stanev
11 Vladimir Nikolov
13 Teodor Salparov
15 Todor Aleksiev
17 Plamen KonstantinovEgypt
1 Hamdy Awad ELSAFI
2 Abdalla Ahmed ABDALLA
3 Mohamed Gabal GABAL
4 Ahmed Abd Elnaeim SALAH
5 Ossama Bekheit O.KEMSAN
L 6 Wael Al Aydy ALAYDY
8 Saleh Youssef S.FATHY
9 Mohamed El Mahdy ELMAHDY
11 Mohamed Elnafrawy ELSAYED
13 Mohamed Badawy MONEIM
14 Hossam Shaarawy HOSSAM
18 Mohamed El Daabousi DAABOUSIJapan
3 Shinya Chiba
4 Kunihiro Shimizu
5 Daisuke Usami
7 Takahiro Yamamoto
8 Masaji Ogino
9 Takaaki Tomimatsu
11 Yoshihiko Matsumoto
12 Kota Yamamura
15 Katsutoshi Tsumagari
16 Yusuke Ishijima - Gottsu
17 Yu Koshikawa
18 Kosuke TomonagaKorea
1 Hak-Min KIM H.M. KIM
2 Kwang-Woo YOU K.W.YOU
4 Sung-Min MOON S.M.MOON
5 Oh-Hyun YEO O.H. YEO
7 Sun-Kyu LEE S.K. LEE
8 Hyun-Yong HA H.Y.HA
9 Young-Soo SHIN Y.S. SHIN
12 Jun-Bum PARK J.B. PARK
14 Yo-Han KIM Y.H.KIM
16 Byung-Il SONG B.I. SONG
17 Kyoung-Min HA K.M.HA co.
18 Yung-Suk SHIN Y.S.SHINPuerto Rico
1 Jose Rivera
2 Gregorry Berrios
4 Victor Rivera
5 Victor Bird
6 Angel Perez
9 Luis Rodriguez
12 Hector Soto
13 Alexis Matias
14 Fernando Morales
15 Enrique Escalante
17 Emanuel Batista
18 Mannix RomanRussia
1 Alexander Korneev
2 Semen Poltavskiy
4 Pavel Kruglov
5 Pavel Abramov
6 Sergey Grankin
8 Sergey Tetyukhin
9 Vadim Khamuttskikh
10 Yury Berezhko
13 Alexey Ostapenko
15 Alexander Volkov
16 Alexey Verbov
18 Alexey KuleshovSpain
1 Rafael Pascual
2 Ibán Pérez
4 Manuel Sevillano
6 Alfonso Flores
9 Alexis Valido
10 Miguel Angel Falasca
11 Javier Subiela
12 Guillermo Falasca
14 Jose Luis Molto
16 Julián García-Torres
17 Enrique De La Fuente
18 Israel RodríguezTunisia
1 Amine Besrour
3 Skander Ben Tara
4 Marouane Garci
8 Aymen Ben Brik
9 Khaled Belaid
10 Haykel Jerbi
12 Hichem Kaabi
13 Noureddine Hfaiedh
14 Bilel Ben Hassine
15 Ghazi Guidara
16 Chokri Jouini
18 Hosni KaramoslyUSA
1 Lloy Ball
2 Sean Rooney
3 James Polster
4 David Lee
5 Richard Lambourne
8 William Priddy
9 Ryan Millar
10 Riley Salmon
12 Thomas Hoff
13 Clayton Stanley
14 Kevin Hansen
15 Gabriel Gardner -
Quote from "AFROMAN"
Unfortunately for you, it won't happen because both Bulgaria and Brazil will be in the first 3 teams.
I AGREE!
I think it will be Brazil, Bulgaria and Russia.
I still can't believe Poland is not playing... they would put up a much better fight than Spain in my opinion....
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Quote from "Brazilian Guy"
I AGREE!
I think it will be Brazil, Bulgaria and Russia.
I still can't believe Poland is not playing... they would put up a much better fight than Spain in my opinion....
I agree about Poland, but Spain won the ECH, and Poland was not even amongst the first four, so Spain deserves to be there, while Poland does not. Sucks when your qualifier is as strong as the European one is.
By the way, it will be RUSSIA, then Bulgaria and Brazil.EDIT: By the way, does anyone know of a place to watch the matches in the net? There is going to have some great games...
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Quote from "Brazilian Guy"
I AGREE!
I think it will be Brazil, Bulgaria and Russia.
I know, I know heheh I only wrote teams which I'll be support, not which teams will win WC
Because Poland and Serbia don't play in WC I support Russia and USA. Why Spain? I like Spain (generally) heheh but honestly, I don't think that they will be in first '3' -
the first results!
EGY-PUR 0-3
AUS-KOR 3-2
BUL-ESP 3-1
ARG-RUS 0-3:dance:
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nehehe the US guys won 3:0 against Brazil :bb:
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'Volley Green Giants' Bulgaria down Spain. Incredible victory, I've watched the match, great victory. Tomorrow there is another important match - against Egypt, we should win 3:0.
I also congratulate USA for being the first team after Bulgaria that has won a match against Brazil recently.