Tokyo, November 1, 2007: The official FIVB press conference for Site A teams took place at the Keio Plaza Hotel inShinjuku on Thursday, starting at 6pm local time. Present were the head coaches of the six teams who will play their opening games at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Friday.

Dominican Republic — Beato Cruz: Our team is supposed to be quite well balanced with a mixture of experienced andyoung players, but there is more youth than experience. From the head coach’s point of view I think we can performwell. This is the second time for us to play in the World Cup. The last time we were 10th and our goal this time is to make a better finish, meaning ninth or higher. I think we can win three or four matches.
Our first match will be against Japan, which will be very difficult. This will be the third game between the two teams recently; we lost the first time in five sets and the second time by 3-0, so now we are looking forward to this third meeting. Japan has good speed, a good attack and combinations, so it will be a great challenge for us. Asalways, though, we will be positive.

Italy — Massimo Barbolini: For us to arrive here as the European champions is a very big honour, and we know itwill be difficult because there are many teams trying to get the target of Olympic qualification.
We know that Thailand is a team that obtained a very, very good result in the last Asian Championship. We know that it is a team that plays very fast and the kind of play not used in Europe, so we have to show the maximum respect for this match because, like every competition, the first match is not easy and we will play against a team thatis in a very, very good moment.

Serbia — Zoran Terzic: The last time we were in Japan for the World Championship we played very good and got third place. Now we have the same target and, of course, we will try to repeat this success. It will be very hard,ofcourse, but I think we have the power to repeat the success from the World Championship. We do not feel underany pressure to be first, second or third. We just try to do our best in all competitions and enjoy our volleyball. This is our target.
For the first match (against Korea) we have the same situation as Italy, playing against a team that plays some different volleyball…much faster and much better defence. I think that if we play good and strong, especially in service, we have a big chance to win this game. We won against Korea in the World Championship last year and I think it will be the same this time.

Korea — Lee Jung-Chul: Our team has been in transition for two or three years from the old to the new generation,and now we have more young players than before. I think we can perform well and play as we did in the past atthis World Cup. Some of our top players have been injured and many of them are still on the recovery path. It isdifficult for me to force them to play as soon as possible. I must be careful how I manage them because wehave important games in the future, too.
Our first game is against Serbia and it is going to be hard, but since it is the first match it is very important for us. Last year we had the chance to play Serbia in the World Championship and we lost, so this time we would like to make a pay back and win the game.

Thailand — Nataphon Srisamutnak: It is a great honour for Thai volleyball to come here to play in the World Cupfor the first time. We are small players and do not have much experience, but we will try our best and play fastercombinations and technique. The other teams are tall and quite experienced and very strong, so it is not easy, but we will show the spirit of Thai volleyball to the Japanese fans. We hope the Japanese fans come here to cheer the Thailand team.

Japan — Shoichi Yanagimoto: I think our team condition is getting better and better, day by day. I became head coach in 2003 and I have tried using a variety of players, especially in the last two years, to play different styles of volleyball. I feel that my trials are starting to bear fruit now, because we were able to win the Asian Championship. This has also given my players more confidence. We will face tough matches continuously in the World Cup but I believe the strong and well-balanced teams will survive.
We start against the Dominican Republic, and every team at this World Cup is a good team. Every match will be tough and important in this league, especially the first match, so we would like to be in our best condition and play our best game from the start. Dominican Republic is good on offence, very strong in attack and spike, but that applies not only to the Dominican Republic; it applies to the rest of the teams at this world level. We have preparedand tried to put special focus on defence because that is always one of the main themes for the team. We have to prepare and react as the match develops.
ends