Coach of Russia, Alexander Karikov, poses with his players after defeating Brazil in five sets on Tuesday at the National Technical University Stadium in Santa Fe.
Santa Fe, Argentina, August 22, 2017 - The Russian team coached by Alexander Karikov lost their first two sets of the competition, however, they solved the match in more than two hours of game time against the Brazilian squad.
Alexander Karikov Head Coach of Russia: “We knew before the match that we was secured in the first place of the Pool and we wanted to let the players that are not usually in the initial line up to have practice. We took this game as a preparation for tomorrow's match. We wanted to analyze in which conditions are our players for the rest of the competition.”
Victoriia Pushina, Player of Russia: “We're very happy with winning this game because Brazil was an excellent rival and it was so difficult to play against them. It was our first game of five sets, but I think its because we couldn't show our best level. We will now prepare for tomorrow's game where we would try to do our best and play better again.”
Beatriz Pereira Santana, Player of Brazil: “I think we did a very good match. Also Russia played well, but I'm happy because we really fight until the end. Sadly we couldn't win, but we did good things today. We expect we can win tomorrow against Argentina for us and all our people.”
Mauricio Santana Head Coach of Brazil: “Russia is the best team in the world today and we wanted to face them to see if it was possible and my girls show they're capable and that they can do a lot of good things. I'm happy because we fight even we didn't get the triumph, we played better in reception and we played as equals. I think we're on a good way to keep fighting. Argentina was first on its group playing very well, with a great evolution and playing at home, so it's going to be a war.”