Betim, Brazil, October 28, 2015 - For the South American champion UPCN San Juan, the game against Al Ahly was more than vital, as the result could boost them straight into semifinals. And despite the pressure generated because of that goal, the Argentinean team showed strength enough to make it.
Hossam Abdalla, Ahly Sporting Club captain: “It was a very hard game for us. Some of our players lost their momentum after a good first set, but we couldn’t close it. They played very well on serving and spiking. I just feel bad for us and congratulate them for the win.”
Javier Filardi, UPCN San Juan captain: “For us it wasn’t an easy game either - we felt some anxiety as it was our first match of the competition. But it’s normal at a huge tournament like this. Luckily, we could recover during the game and get the win, which was a major goal for us. Now we want to improve our game and lower our error rate, not really on which team we will face next.”
Ahmed Zakaria, Ahly Sporting Club coach: “We missed our chance to make it into the next round. They played very well today and we barely knew anything about them. I’m sad now and hope we can come back again next year and do better.”
Fabián Armoa, UPCN San Juan coach: “I must admit we started nervous - we are all together for just one week and for some players it was their first match at a World Championship. All of that affected us, but the guys achieved the confidence needed and our good serves and blocks helped us to open the way at the game.”