Corrientes, Argentina, August, 22, 2015 – Puerto Rico lost Luis Ocasio (abdominal torn) in the third set and couldn’t contain Belgium, falling in 5 sets.
Joel Banks, Belgium Head Coach: “We were really disappointed not playing for 9 to 16th; our pool was really strong! We showed a great level in the first two games of this mini tournament and in the last part of this match; we expected Puerto Rico to show a fierce attitude and they did, overscoring us in the first sets. The tank was pretty empty after the whole tournament but luckily we could break them with a neat block/defense system and show the real Belgian level”
Florian Malisse, Belgium: “We knew that we had to win to secure the 17th place; we were disappointed by having to play this round, we have the level to play between 69th and 16th. We are happy we won and ended the tournament with a victory. Everyone was tired, they played a wonderful match, it didn’t look good for us; but In the end we showed a great level and kept the victory”
Julio Ruvira, Puerto Rico Head Coach: “This World Championship was great for us, we need a lot this kind of experience. We had 3 games that ended in 5 sets and we couldn’t win not even one, so it’s clear that we lack experience to close them. This is a long-term project; we need to work a lot”
Pelegrin Vargas, Puerto Rico Captain: “We missed Luis (Ocasio) a lot from the 3rd set onwards, he was having a great match. It’s a shame we couldn’t end the tournament with a victory, but the balance is always positive; we played against the best teams in the world, now we need to work like they do!”