Cuba-Italy Volleyball

Havana, June 9 (ACN) - The Cuban men's volleyball team faces this Friday the world champion, Italy, in the continuation of the first week of pool 1 of the Nations League, based in Ottawa, Canada.

According to the International Federation website www.fivb.com, the Cubans will try to achieve their first win in their third outing on the court, having previously lost 3-2 (25-21, 26-21, 25-21, 22-25 and 15-13) to Canada and 3-0 (28-26, 25-23 and 25-18) to the Netherlands, respectively.

The other pool 1 matches this Friday in Ottawa are Netherlands-Germany and Canada-Argentina, while in Nogoya (pool 2) will be China-France, Poland-Bulgaria and Japan-Serbia.

As planned by the technical staff of the largest of the Antilles, after the matches in Ottawa, the Cubans will travel to Havana to continue their preparation for the Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023, a multisport event scheduled from June 23 to July 8.

The best eight teams will be in the final, from July 19 to 23 in Gdansk, Poland, a stage to which Cuba will advance if it finishes among the top seven teams or eighth, but if the Poles are among the top eight, which will play in a single-game knockout format.

The first-place team will face the eighth-place team in the quarterfinals, the second-place team will face the seventh-place team, the third-place team will face the sixth-place team and the fourth-place team will face the fifth-place team.

The teams that lose will be placed from fifth to eighth in the event, while the winners will advance to the semifinals to define the candidates for the title and the bronze medal.