Russia Wins the World League!

Russia: 2011 World League Champion!

Final Standings: () denotes last year’s placing

1. Russia (2)
2. Brazil (1)
3. Poland (10)
4. Argentina (5)
5. Bulgaria (7)
6. Italy (6)
7. USA (8)
8. Cuba (4)
9. Serbia (9)
10. Finland (13)
11. Germany (9)
12. France (12)
13. Korea (16)
14. Portugal (-)
15. Japan (-)
16. Puerto Rico (-)

2011 World League Best Players: (Only players in the last four are eligible)

Most Valuable Player: Maxim Mikhaylov (RUS)

Best Spiker: Theo (BRA)
Best Blocker: Maxim Mikhaylov (RUS)
Best Server: Dmitriy Muserskiy (RUS)
Best Receiver: Murilo (BRA)
Best Libero: Krystof Ignaczak (POL)
Best Setter: Luciano De Cecco (ARG)
Best Scorer: Bartosz Kurek (POL)

Awarding Ceremony:

Final Day:

Gold Medal Match: Russia 3-2 Brazil

Russia captain Taras Khtei: “I hope this final was nice for the people who were watching It was 3-2 and a real volleyball fiesta. I would like to thank the Polish fans for keeping the arena full throughout the tournament. You will stay in our hearts for a long time along with these gold medals. I think I can now agree with the opinion of Reid Priddy, that we are one of the best teams in the world, because we finally confirmed that with success. There is an opinion in our country that we should be the leaders, so we will work on it and we will try to stay on top. Our coach played a huge role in this success, because he took over this team and rebuilt everything and that is priceless.”

Brazil captain Gilberto Godoy Filho (Giba): “It was a great match, a real spectacle for everybody. It was one of the most exciting matches in last few years. Now we have to understand what happened and focus on qualifying for the Olympic Games and the South American Championships. I am proud of my team and I can promise you more from them. Russia played really well. The Russian school is amazing, it is not only power but also smart play. They played great in block and had one great service.”

Bronze Medal Match: Argentina 0-3 Poland

Poland captain Piotr Gruszka: “It is really a great success, the first medal in the World League, especially because we won it in Poland. I want to thank everyone for the support we’ve had, even in our worst moments. We were waiting for the victory and we made it in the end. All that hard work, two and a half months of practice finally paid off. I know what Argentina’s team feels like, I felt it before, but I want to congratulate them, because they really played wonderfully throughout the World League. They lost in the end, but they played great.”

Argentina coach Javier Weber: “I think today we played very poorly, not like in other games. I think Poland played much better in attack and service and it made the difference. I feel very bad. I believed in the medal. I am very happy with my team, they played amazing in the entire World League. It is a terrific experience for us. I have very young players, hungry to play all the time. Luciano De Cecco is a fantastic player, fantastic setter. I believe that in one or two years he might be the best setter in the world. He needs to get there step-by-step. It is a very difficult position, but he understands it. I have many many talented players, but the most important thing is to play as a team.”

***

Semifinal Match #1:

Argentina 0-3 Brazil

Argentina captain Rodrigo Quiroga: “Today they gave us a lesson in how to play. In blocking and in defence they played a perfect match. They touched every ball and we had no answer. Tomorrow we have the most important match in our lives. We don’t want to think about today’s game, only about tomorrow.”

Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende: “First of all I want to congratulate all the teams and coaches. Argentina is a great team. They are very fun to watch – in TV or from the audience. They are very hard to play against. They have great players, very young. They have a very good system of play. However, they had to play against a very experienced team today and this was one of the reasons for this defeat. In the future it is going to be hard.

Semifinal Match #2:

Russia 3-1 Poland

Russia head coach Vladimir Alekno: “Before the tournament we had a plan to play against Brazil twice. We made it. Of course I will analyze everything, but for now it will stay in my head. For this day I don’t agree with the opinion that Russia is the best team, because we haven’t won anything yet. The match for the bronze medal will be the clash of character and will. I think the chances are divided in half. But I think the spectators supporting Poland might make the difference.”

Poland captain Piotr Gruszka: “We lost the semifinal against a rusian team that played great Their advantage grew in their service game. When they got ahead, they kept it and it was hard for us to catch up. Those two-three points that we lacked in the ends were those two-three points gained by them earlier. Tomorrow we will play for third place and we will fight for it. We want to get the medal, but it won’t be easy, because we will face Argentina, who have played very well this year.”

***

The Final Round will be held in the P9lish city of Gdansk from July 6th – 10th, 2011. Pool E is consist of host Poland, Italy, Argentina and Bulgaria while defending champs Brazil, USA, Cuba and Russia are in Pool ~~what the~~ F aka “The Pool of Death”.

The top 2 teams from each pool advance to the Semifinal Round.