Barueri, Brazil, May 14, 2018 - The 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League begins on May 15 in Brazil, China, Russia and the United States. In Brazil, the host country will take on Germany, Japan and Serbia in Barueri from Tuesday to Thursday.
Speaking ahead of women's Pool 4, Brazilian head coach José Roberto Guimarães said: “With the Volley Nations League we have the opportunity to play against the best teams in the world and we will see how each team are at this moment in the season. The possibility to play at home in front of our fans opening the competition is very important. We know that the fans will be our 15th player and will support us a lot.”
Japan head coach Kumi Nakada said: “It is our first competition this season and we want to use these matches to test some of our young players. The Volleyball Nations League is an important step in our journey to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.”
Japan captain Nana Iwasaka said: “It is our first match of this season and we are here to be the challengers and we want to achieve the best possible results. We know that the gymnasium will be crowded with fans and we want to use this energy in our favour.”
Germany head coach Felix Koslowski said: “We are very happy and proud of the possibility to play in Brazil. We are going to play against Japan, Brazil and Serbia that are three big nations in volleyball. It will be an amazing experience for my young team. For everybody it is really difficult to start the Volleyball Nations League so early because 50 per cent of my team are practising only since last Monday. We have players that never were in the starting six. We want to try new players and we want to have great experiences. Also we have great expectations.”
Serbia wing spiker Brankica Mihajlovic said: “Tuesday we will have Japan in our first game. We have played them so many times. For sure it is a team that play a strong and fast volleyball with a lot of defenses. Later we will play Germany and Brazil. I think that Brazil against Serbia will be one of the most interesting games and everybody is expecting that. I hope many people will come to watch the games. I am really happy to be here again after the Olympic Games.”
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