CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, August 21, 2005.- The five participating coaches at the Norceca-D Men’s Qualification Tournament for the 2006 FIVB World Championships, considered this is “The Group of Death” in the area and predicted very close matches.

This is what the coaches said during the press conference following the technical meeting:

Luis Ruiz, coach of Puerto Rico: “We are ready for this competition of high level where there are no small enemies. The system established by FIVB, is very good and it give us the chance to play at high level and battle for several tickets for the Worlds.

”Alvinze Paleaz, coach of Guatemala: “We have come to this competition with great desire of playing with consistency. Our goal is to be in the semi finals and win our match against Barbados. We will use the other matches to gain experience and prepare us for the game against Barbados.”

Ludger Niles, coach of Barbados: “We have been preparing the team since our eliminatory and could play some friendly matches to help us for this competition. We hope to keep improving as a team in the regional and world volleyball.”

Jorge Azair coach of Mexico: “We only could train for one month but it has been possible to unify the best available talent in the leagues around the world. The schedule of the competition is good for us in order to prepare the team for the semi final phase where the definition for Japan will take place.”

Hugh McCutcheon, coach of USA:  “Our goal is a simple one, but we know the expected battle. We will play focused every match respecting the opponent. The first match is a hard one, because it is always tough to play against the host team, besides the fact that Puerto Rico is very talented and plays hard.”