Federation Egyptienne de Volleyball

FIVB World League 2006

Egypt vs. Bulgaria 4

Bulgaria defeated Egypt 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-16)
The aggressive Bulgarian front line spikers and blockers paved the way for their team to gain a straight sets victory over Egypt (25-20, 25-19, 25-16) in 73 Minutes in Cairo Stadium complex in the capital of Egypt in the final day of the intercontinental round of the FIVB World League. The victory puts Bulgaria at the top of the pool ahead of Cuba with the point’s ratio. The match was more exciting than the first one last Friday as the home side was more disciplined after the return of team captain Hamdy Awad for the longest period of all the matches. As usual the Bulgarian stars Vladimir Nikolov, Matey Kaziyski and Hirsto Tsvetanov were the stars of the match.
Bulgaria started the match thinking of every point to lead the pool ahead of their competitors, Cuba so they led 4-1 using the strong spikes of their wing spiker Matey Kaziyski. Egypt used the strong spike service to draw 4-4 before Bulgaria had the lead again 8-4. Vladimir Nikolov started to perform his job from position 2 to penetrate the Egyptian block several times and allow his country to gain a wider lead 16-11. The Bulgarian setter used his skills in setting to widen the point deficit to 20-13 before Egypt returned to the match through the experienced star Hamdy Awad to come near till Bulgaria used their mistakes to end the set 25-20.
The Egyptian head coach made some changes in his starting line up in the second set as he put the team captain Hamdy Awad in the starting six and this allowed Egypt to go near 6-5 and 9-8 after they deployed their solid block of Mohamed Elnafrawy and Hossam Shaarawy. Egypt draw for the first time 12-12 and 14-14 using the fast attacks of Elnafrawy and the strong hits of Elkomy from position 4. Suddenly the Egyptian players committed several mistakes in service and reception to allow Bulgaria to use their front line skills specially Plamen Konstantinov and ended the set 25-19.
In the third set the home side reached their utmost as Hamdy Awad led the team to reach 4-1 and 6-2 before Kaziyski and Tsvetanov did well by the net to make Bulgaria the leader again 16-11. Bulgaria continued their superior performance to win the set 25- 16 and the match in straight sets.

Press Conference:

Egypt Head, Coach Grzegorz Rys:

I congratulate the Bulgarian team for their qualification to the finals of the World League. Actually they are great team. We played better than the first match because the players were more concentrating and have fewer mistakes than the first match. We played very well in the second set and we had a percentage of 67% success in attack but we lost due to the hiogh performance of our opponent.

Egypt team captain, Hamdy Awad:

My team played much better than the first match due to the higher spirit of my colleague and the fewer mistakes we did. I think the Bulgarian team will be great in the finals.

Bulgaria Head Coach, Martin Stoev:

We came here to have two wide victories and we succeeded to achieve our strategy. I’m sure we didn’t show our best performance but we will do that in the finals when we are under less pressure than now. The match today was more exciting and interesting for the spectators than the first one.

Bulgaria team captain, Plamen Konstantinov:

We know before the match that we are in need of 10 points difference and this relieved our stress because we played after the end of the Cuba vs. Korea match. Egypt played much better than the first match and this made the match much better than the first.

Bulgaria defeated Egypt 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-11)
Bulgaria used the stars Vladimir Nikolov and Matey Kaziyski in spiking and Hirsto Tsvetanov in blocking to clinch a straight sets victory (25-20, 25-19, 25-11) in 70 minutes in Cairo Stadium Complex in the capital of Egypt. The victory keeps Bulgaria on top of Pool D with 20 points before their compatriot Cuba end their match against Korea
The Egyptian team used the first wind to lead 3-2 through the spikes of Mohamed Gabl and Mahmoud Elkomy. Bulgaria started to use the big gun Vladimir Nikolov to lead 8-5 by the first technical time out. Egypt players adjusted their backline defense to draw 10-10, but Bulgaria used again their potent spikes from position 2 and led 16-13. The match became more exciting as Egypt used the decisive attacks to come near 19-18 but the Bulgarian team was better in blocking to end the set 25-20.
In the second set Bulgaria started aggressively using the strong spikers Matey Kaziyski and the team captain Plamen Konstantinov to lead 8-4 and 16-11. Although Egypt came to the match using the skillful setting of Abdallah Ahmed, but Bulgaria was better in their attacks specially through Vladimir Nikolov from position 2 and Kaziyski from position 4 to won the second set 25-19.
In the third set Bulgaria used the Egyptian mistakes to widen the score from the start 8-4 using the impermeable block of Hirsto Tsvetanov. Egypt struggled to save the match as Egypt coach made many substitutions for the setter and the wing spikers but the bench players were less to allow Bulgaria to increase the point deficit to 16-9, before Bulgaria ended the set 25-11 and the match in straight sets.

Photo Caption
Tsvetanov and Konstantinov blocking against Gabl of Egypt
Press Conference:
Egypt Head, Coach Grzegorz Rys:
We congratulate Bulgaria for their victory. My team played very bad today and I have no comment.
Egypt team captain, Hamdy Awad:
My team played the worst match in this World League today and I think the main cause for that the long journey when we returned back from Korea after the last weekend. We had an important thing that we usually play better outside than at home, maybe because the young players are affected by the stress of the spectators.
Bulgaria Head Coach, Martin Stoev:
Although we won 3-0 and with wide point deficit, we played a difficult match against respected team. I’m happy to win the match with this result which may keep our leadership to the pool. We are concentrating to win the pool and qualify to the finals by getting a second victory against Egypt on Sunday. We studied Egypt well in their two matches against Korea and I think they played much better than today and were near a victory in one match at least.
Bulgaria team captain, Plamen Konstantinov:
We came here to have two victories over Egypt, so I think we did well today to have this 25 points difference in the final score. We started nervous in the first set but we achieved a wide victory in the third set which was enough to have the lead of the pool.

Cuba defeated Egypt 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-23)

Cuba kept the leadership of Pool D in the FIVB World League following their respective victory over Egypt 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-23) in their second match in Cairo Stadium Complex in front of packed excited tribune. Again Cuba used the big guns Romero Poey and Pavel Pimienta who were both match scorers with 10 points each to disturb the Egyptian block specially in the first two sets before Egypt came back by their skillful setter Abdalla Ahmed in the third set which narrowly won by Cuba after exciting performance.
Both teams started the match with the same line up played in the first match on Friday. The Cuban team dominated the net through the taller players specially in block and led 8-3. Egypt team used the strong spike service and the better backline defense to narrow the point deficit to 14-10 for Cuba until Cuba used the artistry of the middle blockers Speek Dominico and Pavel Pimienta and the wing spiker Yasser Portundo to widen the score till they won the set 25-13.
The Egyptian coach made some changes in his line up putting Hamdy Rashad in the team, but he changed him quickly by Mohamed Elsayed as Cuba led 8-5 using the strong spikes of Poey and Dominico. Cuba team used the short setting to the wing spikers from position 4, while Egypt changed the strategy and used the fast setting to the middle blockers Shaarawy and Elsayed in position 3 and this allowed Egypt to come near 14-11. Cuba again dominated the net and the setter Carmenate Deaz used his skills to put his team in front and win the set 25-17.
Egypt improved a lot in the third set especially in blocking and spiking from position 2 to lead for the first time in technical timeout 8-7. Cuba used the technical spike service to come back in front of the highly motivated spectators supporting Egypt. The match went point by point till draw 22-22 and Cuba won the set 25-23 and the match 3-0.

Egypt Head, Coach Grzegorz Rys:
I send my congratulations to the Cuban team for the victory and good performance. I’m glad with my team’s performance only in the third set because we made many mistakes in the first and second sets. My team was affected by the injury of some players specially Mohamed Gabl whose performance was affected after the first set due to leg injury and also Abdalla Ahmed. The reception was our main problem today and this affected our attacks because it was only setting to position 4 in this case.
Egypt team captain, Ashraf Abouel Hassan:
We played well in the third set only due to lack of first pass in the first two sets. The Cuban team is very disciplined in attack and this caused a lot of problem for us.
Cuba Head Coach, Garcia Robert:
I’m happy with this victory and I think it puts us in good position for the leadership of Pool D. I think this match is better than the first one specially in the third set which was the best part in both matches. We applied our strategy in serving and blocking all through the match except in the third set when Egypt used their spike service which didn’t allow us to apply our tactics.
Cuba team captain, Allen Pavel Pimienta:
We prepared well in the second match than in the first because we took some rest after the long flight. We made some mistakes in the third set but we succeeded finally to come back on time to win the match in straight sets.

Cuba defeated Egypt 3-1 (25-14, 25-21, 23-25, 25-11)

Cuba used the skills of the super stars, Osmany Juantorena, Speek Dominico and Romero Poey to pull of a difficult victory over Egypt 3-1 (25-14, 25-21, 23-25, 25-11) in front of 3800 spectators packed in Cairo Stadium complex in the capital of Egypt. Although they lost their seventh match in a raw Egypt team appeared in good performance specially the setter Abdalla Ahmed and the wing spiker Mohamed Badawy who was the best player in his side.
Cuba started the match deploying their well known impermeable block to lead 5-0 through the dark net made by the middle blocker Speek Dominico who didn’t allow a spike from the Egyptian team. The Cuban team succeeded to reach to 8-2 before Egypt used the big gum Mohamed Badawy to narrow the score 10-5. Cuba started to use the strong wing spikers specially Osmany Juantorena and Romero Poey to disturb Egyptian team defense and led 16-6. Egypt improved the reception and backline defense to narrow the score to 18-10 before Cuba regain their superiority by the net to end the set 25-14.
Egypt started the second set in better performance through the spike services of Abdalla Ahmed and Mohamed Gabl to lead 5-3 and used the solid block of Mohamed Elnafrawy to reach 8-3. Cuba players regained the rhythm and began to use their skills in attacks especially from position 4 to lead for the first time in this set 16-14. The set went point by point till 22-21 when Egyptian players fell in mistakes to allow Cuba to score three successive points and win the set 25-21.
Egypt continued their fast attacks by the net through the middle blocker Ossama Bekheit and the opposite player Gabl to lead 8-5. Cuba team tried to come back using their block to stop the Egyptian attacks but Egypt continued leading 16-10. Cuba used the strong spike service to come near 23-21 for Egypt before the home side ended the set 25-23 to win their second set in the competition.
The fourth set showed thrills due to the excited spectators and Egypt team continued their offensive performance to lead 6-4 before Cuba used their weapons specially Yasser Portuondo and Pimienta to score 9 successive points and lead 13-6. The Egyptian coach made some substitution to relief some standing players, but he failed to stop the Cuban attacks to allow the visitors to win the set 25- 11 and the match 3-1.
Press Conference:
Egypt Head, Coach Grzegorz Rys:
We played
Egypt team captain, Ashraf Abouel Hassan:
Our performance was very high in the first set and when Korea won the second set we lost our concentration. We tried to come to the match again in the third and fourth sets but we failed to win due to many reception and digging mistakes.
Cuba Head Coach, Garcia Robert:
The match
Cuba team captain, Allen Pavel Pimienta:
Our performance

Cuba plays Egypt in Cairo with eyes to lead Pool D

Cairo, Egypt, August 2-: The Egyptian volleyball team captain, Hamdy Elsafy returned back from injury to join the team for the first time in the World league before the expected tough match against Cuba in Cairo Stadium Complex 4 and 6 of August. The other two injured stars Saleh Fathy, the best attacker in Egypt and Ahmed Salah, the best wing spiker started the physiotherapeutic training after both were operated upon last month for shoulder injuries.

The Egyptian team entered a closed camp following their third weekend matches against Korea last week which was the first ever World League match to be held in an African soil as the Polish head coach of the team Grzegorz Rys tried to treat the mistakes of the last matches in an attempt to achieve the first victory for Egypt in this competition.

"I'm happy for the return back of the team captain and I hope for the other key players to return back to play even in the last weekend of this prestigious competition and to be ready before the 2006 World Championship in Japan," Said the Egyptian Coach. "We know the quality of our opponent as Cuba is considered now one of the big schools of Volleyball all over the world and we hope to appear in better performance than the previous matches." He added.

Cuba will enter this match to keep here place on top of the pool after they ended the third weekend in the first position of Pool D although they lost for the first time at their homelands in Havana in the second match against they Arch Rivals Bulgaria. The Cuban team arrived to Cairo on Wednesday with all the stars led Yasser Portuondo, Osmany Juantorena and Raidel Poey to have two training sessions before the first match.

"We still have six games ahead. It will be Bulgaria or Cuba the leader of Pool D. But we first have to face Egypt and Korea and you cannot take a win for granted. We will try to succeed in the upcoming six matches," Said Cuba Head Coach Garcia Robert. "Our reception did not work out in the last match against Bulgaria, so our setting was higher and that enabled the Bulgarian team to be more efficient in the block. We believe that our squad did not recover properly from a busy tour at the Central American and Caribbean Games and then the World League matches and we hope to regain our performance soon." He added.

Korea defeated Egypt for the second time 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-18)

Korea used the strong weapons by the net and the disciplined backline defense to clinch the second victory over Egypt in straight sets 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 in the third weekend of the 2006 FIVB World League in Cairo Stadium Complex in Pool D. Korea front line stars In-Jung Who and Sun-Kyu Lee and Kyung-Soo Lee played the main role in this victory as they used their skillful spikes to overcome the Egyptian block.
Egypt team managed the situation quickly as they deployed their solid block against the fast attacks of the Korean team to lead 8-7 although they lost 4 successive services. The Opposite player Mohamed Gabl was the best in the Egyptian side through his blocking and spiking from position 2. As usual the Korean team came to the match very quickly through the experienced middle blocker In-Jung Who and the strong spiker Sung-Min Moon to lead 16-14 by the second technical time out. The Korean team dominated the net action through their setter Young-Min Kwon and the fast spikes from Sun-Kyu. Although the Egyptian team struggled in the last points of the set, Korea won narrowly 25-23.
In the second set Egypt started with more stable line up and led 3-1 and 8-7 after the good block of Mohamed Elnafrawy and the wing spiker Mahmoud Elkomy. Egypt continued leading the crowd spectators very excited to reach to 16- 13 mark in the score. The Korean team adjusted their backline defense to dominate the match again and lead for the first time 20-19 and used the sudden decline in the Egyptian performance to win the set 25-22.
Again Korea used the big gun Sun-Kyu Lee to penetrate the Egyptian block and led 8-6. Suddenly the Egyptian team completely lost concentration to allow Korea to use their skills in attacks and use their mistakes till they won the set 25-18 comfortably.
Press Conference:
Egypt Head, Coach Grzegorz:
I’m sad to lose for the second time against Korea but we congratulate the Koreans for their victory. We played better than the first match although we lost in straight sets this time as we committed fewer mistakes than the first match. I will repeat that we missed today the main three players in our squad because the rest of the team lacks the experience. My team has the youngest players between all the teams participating in the World League.
With this new performance I think we will improve in the coming match if we apply the same strategy specially in blocking.
Korea Head Coach, Kim Ho-Chul:
I’m happy to win the second match in a raw away because we played better than the other World league matches. We succeeded to modify our style to appear with the new strategy we applied in the last few matches. We have now better block and attacks tactics.

Egypt vs. Korea 2
Headline
Korea defeated Egypt for the second time 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-18)
Match Flash
Korea used the strong weapons by the net and the disciplined backline defense to clinch the second victory over Egypt in straight sets 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 in the third weekend of the 2006 FIVB World League in Cairo Stadium Complex in Pool D. Korea front line stars In-Jung Who and Sun-Kyu Lee and Kyung-Soo Lee played the main role in this victory as they used their skillful spikes to overcome the Egyptian block.
Match Descriptive:
Egypt team managed the situation quickly as they deployed their solid block against the fast attacks of the Korean team to lead 8-7 although they lost 4 successive services. The Opposite player Mohamed Gabl was the best in the Egyptian side through his blocking and spiking from position 2. As usual the Korean team came to the match very quickly through the experienced middle blocker In-Jung Who and the strong spiker Sung-Min Moon to lead 16-14 by the second technical time out. The Korean team dominated the net action through their setter Young-Min Kwon and the fast spikes from Sun-Kyu. Although the Egyptian team struggled in the last points of the set, Korea won narrowly 25-23.
In the second set Egypt started with more stable line up and led 3-1 and 8-7 after the good block of Mohamed Elnafrawy and the wing spiker Mahmoud Elkomy. Egypt continued leading the crowd spectators very excited to reach to 16- 13 mark in the score. The Korean team adjusted their backline defense to dominate the match again and lead for the first time 20-19 and used the sudden decline in the Egyptian performance to win the set 25-22.
Again Korea used the big gun Sun-Kyu Lee to penetrate the Egyptian block and led 8-6. Suddenly the Egyptian team completely lost concentration to allow Korea to use their skills in attacks and use their mistakes till they won the set 25-18 comfortably.

Egypt Seeks first Victory in the World League against Korea

Cairo, Egypt July 29-: Egypt Volleyball Men's Team seek the first ever victory for Africa in the FIVB World League when they meet South Korea in the second Match of the third week weekend of the Pool D matches to be held in Cairo Stadium Complex in the capital of Egypt on Sunday. The first African team to participate in the prestigious FIVB competition lost the first match 3-1 against the Asian team on Friday.
Missing three main Stars, Egypt won the first set in the competition against Korea after good show in Serving and blocking before their performance dropped acutely to lose three successive sets after several reception and digging mistakes. The Korean team showed modern volleyball with their new system of playing and succeeded to penetrate the Egyptian block and backline defense to clinch their first win in this year's competition.
"We hope to get rid of the mistakes the players did in the first match to achieve the first victory in the Sunday's match," Said the Polish coach of Egypt, Grzegorz Rys. "I think we will appear in different performance in the coming 2006 World Championship in Japan when the young players get more experience with this high quality matches and this is the most important aim of participation." He added.
The Korean Coach Kim Ho-Chul said cheerily "I'm Happy not only for gaining the first victory in the competition but also because my players apply our strategy and succeeded to come from one set back to pull of the final result against Egypt."
The Korean team will enter the match ranked third with six points from one victory and four defeats while Egypt is ranked fourth with five defeats.

Egypt vs. Korea 1

Korea defeated Egypt 3-1 (21-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-16)

In the first ever FIVB World League match to be held in the African soil South Korea team came from one set behind to clinch 3-1 victory (21-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-16) over the host Egypt in 103 minutes of exciting volley in front of 3800 spectators in Cairo Stadium complex in Cairo. Korea used the strong weapons In-Jung Who and Kyung-Soo Lee to penetrate the undisciplined Egyptian block and gain the first world league win. Korea is ranked third of Pool D with six points ahead of Egypt which came fourth with five points.
Egypt started the match aided by the big home crowd and used the strong hits of Mohamed Gabl from position 2 and Mohamed Badawy from position 4 to lead 8-5 and 16-11. Korea came to the match using the reception mistakes of the Egyptian players and the spikes of Kyung-Soo Lee in an attempt to narrow the point deficit but the more consistent Egyptian players ended the situation to win their first set in the competition 25-21.
Korea started the second set in better performance improving their block against the Egyptian attacks through Sun-Kyu Lee and Kyung-Soo to lead for the first time 2-1 and 7-5. Due to undisciplined backline defense of Egypt, Korea increased the point margin to 16-8. The coach of Egypt made 4 substitutions to save the set but the Korean team dominated the court by their concentrated spikes as they used the disturbance of Egypt defense to win the set 25-15 and level the result 1-1.
Korea continued in the same rhythm in the third set to lead 6-4 by their solid block and the good work by the net through the skillful setter Young-Min Kwon and reached to 8-6 before Egypt increased their activity by the net through the wing spikers Mohamed Badawy and Ahmed Rayan. Korea used their strong spikes of In-Jung Who and Kyung-Soo to win the set 25-19.
Egypt head coach changed the starting line up in the fourth set but failed to stop the efficient Korean attacks who led 8-5 and 16-9. The better Korean side controlled the net action to win the set 25-16 and the match 3-1.
Press Conference:

Egypt Head, Coach Grzegorz:
We played very well in the first set in spiking and blocking and used also the good service to win easily but our performance dropped acutely in the second set and the players lost their concentration to lose three successive sets. We hope to win the second match to achieve the first victory in this prestigious competition. The Egyptian players lack the experience to deal with the Korean style and I think they will gain this in the coming competition starting from the 2006 World championship in Japan.

Egypt team captain, Ashraf Abouel Hassan:
Our performance was very high in the first set and when Korea won the second set we lost our concentration. We tried to come to the match again in the third and fourth sets but we failed to win due to many reception and digging mistakes.

Korea Head Coach, Kim Ho-Chul:
I’m very happy to achieve the first victory in this competition as we knew much about our opponent after we lost the first set. My team managed the match well after the first set through the good block and service which disturbed the opponent. I think the star of my team was the setter Young-Min Kwon.

Korea team captain, Young-Min Kwon:
Our performance changed after we lost the first set through the good spikes of Kyung-Soo Lee and the other spikers. The Egyptians fall in many reception mistakes which allowed us to use our system of attacks and win the match.

Egypt and Korea ready for ranking clash
Cairo, Egypt, July 26-: Egypt and Korea Volleyball teams became ready for their historic clash in the third weekend of the 2006 FIVB World league in Cairo Stadium complex in the capital of Egypt 28 and 30 July. The Korean team arrived to Cairo in the early morning of Wednesday and had a training cession on the same day, while the Egyptians started also their training on Wednesday also after their long back home flight from Cuba following their second weekend matches. The match will be the first between the two teams since the Egypt had the victory narrowly 3-2 in the 2003 World Cup in Japan and considered a battle of ranking between the two teams for the third position in Pool D after the leaders of the Pool Cuba and Bulgaria.
Again Egypt will lose three key players due to injury; the team captain Hamdy Elsafy, the efficient wing spiker Ahmed Salah and the strong attacker Saleh Fathy after they missed the last two weekends so the team will depend on the same line up played in the first four matches against Bulgaria in Varna and Cuba in Havana. "We will do our best to bring the first victory in this prestigious competition against Korea as my team will play the first match in our homelands after we played away in the first two weekends," Said the Polish head coach of Egypt, Grzegorz Rys. "We hope to appear in better performance after the young players become more experienced with these big competitions." He added.
Egypt assistant Coach, Ahmed Zakaria added "We hope to use all our stars against Cuba in Cairo next weekend specially the team captain Hamdy Elsafy as we missed them a lot against Bulgaria and Cuba."
The Korean team included all the main stars in their line up which will meet Egypt specially the strong attackers Sung-Min Moon, Kyung-Soo Lee and Byung-Chul Chang. "We have got a great experience from the participation in this big event but now we are looking forwards to achieve victories," Said Korea Head Coach, Kim Ho-Chul. "It was a good opportunity for my team to know about the better teams than us and from now onwards we could take the victory to our side." He added.
Egypt lost their four matches away against Bulgaria and Cuba in straight sets without gaining a set, while their opponents Korea lost also the four matches in their homelands but they had two sets in their record.

Egypt starts Preparation as the Nucleus of the squad injured
Cairo, Egypt, June 16 -: Egypt Men's Volleyball team started this week the count down preparation for the 2006 World League as Egypt will start the first weekend meeting Bulgaria in Varna 14-16 July in competition Pool D. The injury affecting some of the key players is considered one of the main problems for the Egyptians who were the first ever African country to participate in the prestigious event as they may lose 4 main players in the first and second weekends; Saleh Fathi, team captain Hamdy El Safi, Ahmed Salah and Mohamed Abdelrahman.
The four players complains of different injuries from the last local season. Saleh Fathi will need surgical interference for his injured shoulder.
Egypt team will enter a camp in the Olympic Centre in Cairo to train daily till they leave for Poland in June 22 to play Poland second team twice 24 and 25 June before the participation in the 8 Nations Championship known to be held in Poland 28 June to 2 July 2006. Egypt will play in Pool A in this competition with Poland, Italy and Norway, while Pool B will show Cuba, Portugal, Canada and Poland Second team.
"We want to reach our best performance before the World league in spite of Losing our key players in the line up" Said Egyptian Assistant Coach, Ahmed Zakaria. "We hope to use our substitutes in the Polish tournament to replace the injured players till they will be fit starting from the third weekend." He added.
The World league will be the first competition under the new head coach Grezgorez Rys of Poland who took over the responsibility since two month.