China coach Xie Guochen believes that Yuan Zhi was key to the win but was also satisfied with his other players' performance in the match against Mexico
Gdansk, Poland, September 3, 2014 – China cruised to their second victory in Pool C after beating Mexico 3-1 in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship at the Ergo Arena on Wednesday.
Mexico captain Carlos Guerra: “It was a tough match for us, we responded to the pressure in order to win. We came out very aggressive and we followed the tactics by our coach. We fulfilled our plan but China made all the adjustments to win and be better than us. Their coach substituted some players and they have also played very well. We are of course disappointed with the result, but I am happy about the way we played. We showed some Mexican fire on the court and I am glad about it. We showed our volleyball and we look forward to seize at least one victory during this tournament.”
Mexico coach Sergio Hernandez: “I am experiencing mixed feelings right now. We lost but somehow we managed to perform our tactics for this match. We have to look on the positives. Being here in the World Championship will help us grow and make Mexican volleyball stronger. Playing against the best teams in the world will give us experience.
“Men’s volleyball is not popular in Mexico. Only in the last two years that we have managed to gain some following since we have been winning. This brings me only good feelings. Of course, it is nothing compared to Poland where you see 60,000 people watching volleyball and it is just complete amazing. In my country, only football can attract such number of spectators. I do not know what is the Polish secret but you definitely have to share it with us.”
China captain Weijun Zhong: “The Mexican team played quite excellent game. They have put us under pressure. Yuan Zhi definitely won the match for us with his amazing skills and experience. Mexico have a lot of experienced players and we can actually learn from them. We hope to win the next matches as well.”
China coach Xie Guochen: “Mexico played very well today. They have performed as a team. In some moments in the match, they managed to make my players feel stressed and distracted so I had to make some adjustments. In the succeeding sets, we were able to show our skills better. This minor problem is because of some inexperienced players in my team. It is their first time to participate in a tournament like this. We will learn from this match and use this positive experience in the next matches.
“I know that Yuan Zhi played extremely well in this match and he showed it with his excellent scoring. I am also satisfied with other members of the team they played well too. Although they have not yet managed to show their best potential, I cannot just base my tactics on one player.”