Havana/This Wednesday, Cuba secured its participation in the Volleyball World Cup, which will be held in Poland in 2027. The men’s team under the command of Jesús Cruz beat the Dominican Republic 3-0 in one hour and 13 minutes of play. The official media highlights the bronze medal, although the primary objective in Moncton, Canada, is to get a ticket to the Los Angeles Olympic Games (2028), an event for which the Island has not qualified since Rio de Janeiro (2016).
Due to their performance in the tournament, Cubans Miguel Ángel López, Alexis Wilson and Christian Thondike were selected as part of the ideal team of the event.
“Third place in the tournament is very important because it ensures our qualification for the World Cup, but it is even more important to prepare the team for the next qualifier for the Olympic Games,” said the Cuban coach in an interview with the portal. Norceca.
“Now the best is coming,” the independent journalist said on his social networks. Raul Rodriguezwho recalled that the best four of the Continental Championship of North, Central America and the Caribbean (Norceca), not counting the United States for being classified, “will have to fight for a single place at the Olympic Games.”
“Even more important is to prepare the team for the next qualifier for the Olympic Games,” said the Cuban coach.
The island’s national team will face the Dominican Republic again on Friday and if they win, the rival to beat would be Canada. The statistics of the match against the Dominicans for third place favor the Cubans in all three sets: 25-22, 25-19 and 26-24. They were also better in attack by getting 44 points to the Dominicans’ 30, they completed nine serves to their opponent’s three and achieved 9 rebounds to their opponent’s eight.
Cuba looks like a favorite, although Rodríguez warns that “it will be a battle of sporting life or death.”
The sports space CubanSp1kewho has followed the incidents of the tournament in Canada, agrees with the communicator. “I honestly don’t know what will happen anymore, one wants, one has desires and motivations, but playing like this. It’s the timba and the holy spirit.”
The Cuban volleyball player Robertlandy Simón Aties He acknowledged that “the team has to improve” and recalled that before the trip to Canada “we spent several days without training.” The athlete commented that in the final part of the game against the Dominican Republic “we made a lot of mistakes.”
Simón Aties spoke of the need to “have a better performance for the Olympic qualification. We have to arrive with a different mentality.”
