Left to right: Guillermo Orduna (ARG), Jose Roberto Guimaraes (BRA), Jean Rene Akono (CMR), Masayoshi Manabe (JPN), Lee Jung Chul (KOR) and Yury Marichev (RUS) at the Press Conference.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 5, 2016 - Coach Jose Roberto 'Ze Roberto' Guimaraes of Rio 2016 hosts Brazil stressed the importance of performing well in front of a home crowd, ahead of the women's Olympic Volleyball Tournament beginning Saturday.
"Our expectation is to play well and to do our best in this Olympic Tournament and playing at home makes this all the more important," said the 62-year-old who seeks his third Olympic gold medal after triumphantly coaching Brazil's men in Barcelona 1992 and Brazil's women in Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Brazil are after matching Cuba's record by winning a third straight gold medal at Rio 2016, after their success at Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Cuba, who dominated women's volleyball worldwide in the 1990s, claimed consecutive gold medals in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.
Playing before a partisan home crowd very much in love with the sport and with their sessions already sold out, Brazil are fielding an eperienxed squad with as many as four players (Jaqueline Carvalho, Sheilla Castro, Fabiana Claudino and Thaisa Menezes) already two-time gold medallists.
Meanwhile, newcomers to the Olympics Argentina and Cameroon agreed that being in Rio is a great opportunity to increase their level of play, speaking at the official Press Conference of the competition.
Here's what the other coaches of women's Pool A had to say:
Guillermo Orduna, Argentina: "Congratulations to the organisers of Rio 2016. Argentina are in the Olympics for the first time ever and our expectation from this event is to improve our level of play and gain experience for the future."
Jean Rene Akono, Cameroon: "This is our first ever participation in the Olympic Games and comes after four years of training for this moment. It is the last step on the road and we do expect to take the opportunity to increase our level of play."
Masayoshi Manabe, Japan: "The Olympic Games will be very tough this time around, so we have to do our best."
Lee Young Chul, Korea: "We hope for a good result at these Olympic Games and to come away with happy memories. We are looking at doing better than we did in London 2012."
Yuri Marichev, Russia: "Our preparation for this tournament has been very long. I would like to wish everyone good luck."
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