On the third day of the second week of the Nations League, the Japanese men's volleyball team played against Brazil and won 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 22-25, 18-16). After the match, we asked Japan national team coach Philippe Blanc for a comment.
-How was the match?
Blanc: It was a tough match. After the second set, the reporter asked me, "What can we improve?" and I answered, "Serving and side outs. And I think the match will be long." The reporter laughed, but I was right. The match was even longer than expected because Brazil came back with different players and different plays. But in the end, we won with our spirit and got a big victory. We also got points for our ranking, and with seven wins, we are closer to advancing to the final round in Gdansk (Poland). It's a great result.
-What words of encouragement did you give to your players after they had lost the fourth set and before going into the fifth set?
Blanc: I told them that while technique and tactics are important, the most important thing in this situation was the desire to attack and the ability to believe in yourself. And they did just that.
-Today, you started with Miyaura instead of Nishida as the opposite. What was the intention behind this?
Blanc: Nishida had a little bit of shoulder pain, and we knew Miyaura was a great opposite and we needed him to play more because he was mostly just on the block so far, and we knew he needed to play more today because he struggled early in the match, but in the fifth set he had one block, one great spike from the left and one ace, so it went well.
-Is Kai in good condition?
Brann: He currently has a stress fracture in his pinky toe and is undergoing treatment to get him back on the court as soon as possible.
How to watch Nations League 2023
All Japan matches in the Nations League 2023 will be broadcast live on BS-TBS,U-NEXTandVolley TVBut it's being broadcast live.
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Photo: Author
Photo book "CATCH ××× DREAM" featuring Ryujin Nippon's three players Ishikawa, Takahashi, and Nishida will be released on June 5th! ↓
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