Ekaterinburg, Russia, May 14, 2018 - A press conference dedicated to the start of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League was held in Ekaterinburg, where the national teams of Russia, Argentina, Thailand and the Netherlands will meet over the next three days.
Russia head coach Vadim Pankov said: "The advantage of this tournament is that we play with the best teams and we can improve the game of our team. We have updated our team and the task is to play better and better, and also to reach the final, of course.
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"The composition of the team was partially planned by me, some of the players were injured. There will be no Goncharova, Pankova, Zaryazhko, Samoilenko, Startseva. I planned that most of the former players would be on the team, but the current situation gives a chance to less experienced players.
"First of all, I must have a look and see the most effective way to help the team to perform at the World Championship and to see who will play. Also, there is another task: to raise the players to the maximum psychological level."
Netherlands head coach Jamie Morrison said: "The main advantage of the Volleyball Nations League is a more fair system of the tournament, now all the teams play with each other. The difficulty is that we will play on the road five weeks, it's very long. We have a lot of flights, a change of time zones, it's not easy.
"Some of my team's players have been training for two weeks, and some have not even started training. Therefore, our main task will be to progress in every match. And it's also important to get to the final and prepare well for the World Championship."
Netherlands captain Maret Balkestein-Grothues said: "We had many interesting matches against the Russian team. Russia is a very difficult rival, strong. We have met many times, and now we look forward to the games."
Russia captain Ksenia Parubets said: "This is a very interesting tournament, in which everyone wants to play. We have a lot of young players and we are all ready to fight. It's a great honour for me to perform in my hometown."
Argentina coach Guillermo Orduna said: "The Volleyball Nations League is very important for us. Our team is young and exactly in this tournament we can get a lot of experience and advance in our professional side.
"The main principle of Argentina is to continue to play in the top division and compete with the best teams in the world.
"We understand our responsibility in the match with Russia, this is a very difficult team. We trained a lot, and I hope that in the upcoming matches we will be able to show a different level of volleyball."
Argentina captain Julieta Constanza Lazcano said: "As the coach said, we have a lot of young players, and in five weeks they can join the team, that's why we are very happy to play in this tournament."
Thailand head coach Danai Sriwacharamaytakul said: "We are very happy to come here to Ekaterinburg and take part in the Volleyball Nations League, in a tournament where the best teams of the world participate.
"We will try to improve our skills from game to game. It is very important for me that every player of my team grows, and we will try to keep our condition optimal throughout the tournament.
"Our main task is the adaptation of new, young players. It is important for them to learn from older, more experienced colleagues."
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Thailand captain Pleumjit Thinkaow said: "The Volleyball Nations League is a long tournament, to which we carefully prepared. I want to wish all the teams good luck!"