Havana, May 21 (ACN) -- The Cuban men's team will face Brazil today in the first week of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL), based in Rio de Janeiro.
In the same key it will also have Germany, Japan and Iran as rivals.
The disciples of Jesús Cruz will have a difficult start in the city of Rio, but the team is focused on fulfilling its main purpose, getting a ticket for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
According to the announced program of the contest on the International Federation's website www.fivb.com, Cruz's students will open against the Brazilians this Tuesday, on Thursday they will face the Germans, on Friday they will face the Japanese and on Saturday against the Iranians .
In the second week, in Ottawa, Canada, they will face the host team, Italy, world champion, France and the Netherlands, while in the third, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the local team, and Bulgaria, Serbia and Poland.
The program indicates that the quarterfinals will be from June 27 to 28, the semifinal, on the 29th, and the final, on the 30th, in Lodz, Poland, which will close the action for the completion of the teams classified for the event. Parisian multisports event, from July 26 to August 11.
The 16 men's teams registered in the VNL are Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and the United States.
France, Olympic champion of Tokyo 2020, has already secured its place due to its status as host, so the 12 contestants will be completed for placement in the RM after the 2024 Nations League knockout phase has concluded, but prioritizing the team belonging to a continent that has not reached the quota.
Recently, the Cuban team held two friendly and preparation matches with Argentina, Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, with venues in the Argentine city of Posada, province of Misiones, and in the stadium in the city of Monte Carlo.
In the first and second challenges, the Cubans lost 1-3 (25-23, 23-25, 16-25 and 19-25) and 2-3 (25-17, 21-25, 29-27, 20-25 and 12-15), respectively.
Beyond the results, the Cuban technical director (DT) completed the preparation without a stable starting lineup, since he tested all of his pupils.
The team is made up of the Centrals Roberlandy Simón, Javier Concepción, José Israel Massó, Roamy Alonso and Alexis Wilson, and the corner players chosen are Miguel Ángel López, Marlon Yant, Osniel Mergarejo, Julio César Cárdenas, Bryan Camino and Yusniel González.
As opposites are Jesús Herrera, Michael Sánchez, Miguel David Gutiérrez, Alejandro Miguel González, José Miguel Gutiérrez, José Carlos Romero and Carlos Charles, as passers, Christian Thondike, Lyván Taboada, Adrián Goide and Julio Alberto Gómez, and as liberos, Yonder García and Alain Gorguet.
Cruz is accompanied by assistant coaches Mario Izquierdo and Manuel de Jesús Espinosa, doctor Lenin Hernández, physiotherapist Eladio Vives and national volleyball commissioner Jorge Sosa, head of the delegation.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, France, has already secured its places, as host, Germany and Brazil, one-two in the pre-Olympic tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Japan and the United States in a similar competition held on Japanese soil, and Poland and Canada, in a tournament that took place in China.
