A remarkable win for Puerto Rico over Italy thanks to spirit and passion
Emanuele Birarelli - Italy captain: "Puerto Rico played a great match, their defence put us in trouble since the beginning of the match. Of course I'm disappointed because we expected to win and played bad in the end. We look forward to stay focused about tomorrow, we must forget about this loss."
Héctor Soto - Puerto Rico captain: "As we were saying, if we have a good reception, we have a good chance. Even though we are small, we play quite well in block. I wish we could have played better before, I always say we pull out a surprise on every World Champs and this happened today as well. Technically, this is the game we've been searching to play, we've been practising for that."
Mauro Berruto - Italy coach: "Puerto Rico had an outstanding performance, teaching us that when you trust in yourself, passion and will to win will make you win. They had an outstanding defence and were consistent throughout the match but that because they showed marveolus passion on the court. This is a double loss for me. It's a huge defeat from a mentally point of view. We need to collect everything we have inside and put it against USA tomorrow."
David Alemán - Puerto Rico coach: "We were more focused, we wanted to win. Our players did an extra effort today, despite the low chances to play in the second phase. Fans gave us a little bit extra push, in my country fans are passionate too, so we appreciate that fans were applauding us tonight too."