Ljubljana, Slovenia, July 06, 2019 – Cuba are the first finalist of the 2019 FIVB Men’s Challenger Cup after defeating Turkey in a five-setter on Saturday. Both teams presented a high quality of volleyball at Arena Stozice, making every effort to stay in the bid for the 2020 Volleyball Nations League qualification.
Jesus Herrera Jaime, opposite of Cuba: “We played really good today. Turkey are a better ranked team than us and they were hoping for a win, but we delivered a great performance and proved that we can compete at this level, even against better teams. Although I scored the most points I had the support of the whole team. We can play even better and tomorrow we will go for another win.”
Nicolas Vives, head coach of Cuba: “We have a really young team, our average age is 21. We still miss some experience, but the guys have a promising future ahead. The match was a tough one, Turkey are a good team, but I am happy that my players started the match with a great desire to play. I am satisfied with the outcome and I’m already looking forward to the final.”
Arslan Eksi, captain of Turkey: "We were aware that Cuba are a strong team. We opened the game very well winning the first set. Later, we made too many mistakes, but either way we managed to come back from 2-1, we played on our level, closing the fourth set in our favour. In the tie-break when you make simple mistakes three times, your opponent collects the 15th point. We lost, but we congratulate Cuba, they have many young and good players. I wish them good luck in the final and we will now fight for the 3rd place. I feel sorry, because we did our best. We will try to win the Volleyball Challenger Cup next year."
Nedim Ozbey, head coach of Turkey: "We have five players injured and we are young and against a good team like Cuba. They were better today and despite the fact that it was a great game, we lost."