We spoke with the U.S. men's volleyball team, who were in Gdansk (Poland) for practice matches on July 20th and 21st local time. The U.S. team is in the same qualifying pool C as the Japanese team, and will play against Japan on Friday, August 2nd at 28:00 Japan time.
This time we bring you an interview with setter and captain Micah Christenson (the interview was conducted on the 20th).
Toshiki: We were originally scheduled to play a friendly match against Serbia today, but it was cancelled.
Christenson: It can't be helped. Of course we wanted to play Serbia, but it can't be helped under these circumstances. We're adapting well. I think we're good at adapting like that. And I think we improved again today. That's a good thing. We try to improve a little bit every day, and I think we did that today.
Toshiki: How did you spend your time after the Nations League ended?
Christenson: Practice. We've been practicing a lot. We've also been working on staying healthy. I think our team is a lot healthier now than it was over the summer. We've been working on a lot of things we wanted to improve, and I think we're doing it.
Toshiki: How is the team's condition right now?
Christenson: We're in good shape. I'm very happy with how we've played the last few days. The atmosphere, how everything is going, and the health of the team. Everyone looks very healthy, which is very important for us. (The U.S. national team had several injured players during this year's Nations League.)
Toshiki: How did you feel when you were placed in Pool C with Japan at the Paris Olympics?
Christenson: No matter where we were in the group, our set would be the same. It's like, "Now, who's going to be our opponent?" We know that the Olympics are very difficult. The Olympics are very difficult no matter what group you're in. When we looked at our group, we realized how good all the teams are and that we have to do our best to play our best volleyball at the Olympics.
Toshiki: What do you think about the current Japanese team?
Christenson: They're great. You know, they've shown how great they are. So I'm honestly looking forward to seeing how they are in tonight's game (Japan won 3-2 in a friendly against Poland) and also to prepare for tomorrow's game against Poland (Poland won 3-2). I think it'll be good preparation (before the Olympics), but we know Japan is very dangerous.
Photo: Author
[PR] "ALL for DREAM -Footsteps to Glory- Japan Volleyball National Team Nations League 2024" will be available on U-NEXT from July 27th (Sat.)
A documentary program that closely follows the unknown behind-the-scenes of the "Volleyball Nations League 2024" and traces the fierce battles will be streamed on U-NEXT.
[Distribution date and time]
July 27th (Saturday) 5pm Boys #1 Boys #2
August 3rd (Saturday) 5pm Women's #1
Saturday, August 10th 5pm Women's #2
Saturday, August 24th 5pm Men's #3
Saturday, August 31st 5pm Women's #3
September 7th (Saturday) 5pm Men's #4
Saturday, September 14th 5pm Women's #4
(Quoted from TBS TV release)
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