Puerto Rico produced major surprise edging Argentina 

SAITAMA, Japan, November 17, 2006.- Puerto Rico produced a major shock in the second game of Pool A on Friday, beating Argentina for the first time in an official FIVB match 3-2.

Puerto Rico, ranked 23rd in the world and playing in only their second Men’s World Championships after a 32-year absence, beat seventh-ranked Argentina 19-25, 34-32, 28-26, 21-25, 15-13 in a match that swung one way and then the other.

Hector Soto enjoyed a splendid match for Puerto Rico scoring 38 points. Jose Rivera had 23 and Luis Rodriguez 17.

Carlos Cardona, coach of Puerto Rico: “We are extremely happy to win and now it is vital to maintain this level of concentration. This match brought the best out of all the players, and I would like to thank the people for their support.”

In Sendai , Canada beat Kazakhstan 25-21, 26-24, 25-21 in a hard-fought Pool D opener. Paul Duerden contributed 20 points to the Canadian triumph and Fred Winters added 13.

Glenn Hoag, coach of Canada : “The first match is always difficult in this level of competition. Our players were nervous but we’d like to dedicate this win to three of our injured players who weren’t able to make the trip to Japan .”

In Fukuoka, Cuba lost to defending champions Brazil 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25- 22) during in the opening match of Pool B.

Cubans Yasser Portuondo and Odelvys Dominico had 14 points apiece and Michael Sanchez and Raydel Corrales each contributed 12 points

In Nagano, USA was downed by Venezuela in the first match of Pool C. The Americans fought back after losing the first set, but could not find further reply as a powerful Venezuelan side ran out 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 25-18 winners.

David McKinzie and Reid Priddy had 13 and 12 points respectively for USA.