Part 3 - FIVB

Men’s Participating 

Teams 

www.fivb.org 

The final players’ list for each team is published on www.fivb.org 

68

Brazil 

Pool B Page 74 

Bulgaria 

Pool A Page 78 

China 


Egypt 


Germany 


Italy 


Japan 


Poland 


Russia 


Serbia 


USA 


Venezuela 


69

www.fivb.org 

Olympic Records 

Men’s Olympic Medals 

Year Organizer Gold Silver Bronze 

2004 Athens (GRE) BRA ITA RUS 

2000 Sydney (AUS) YUG RUS ITA 

1996 Atlanta (USA) NED ITA YUG 

1992 Barcelona (ESP) BRA NED USA 

1988 Seoul (KOR) USA URS* ARG 

1984 Los Angeles (USA) USA BRA ITA 

1980 Moscow (URS*) URS* BUL ROM 

1976 Montreal (CAN) POL URS* CUB 

1972 Munich (GER) JPN DDR URS* 

1968 Mexico (MEX) URS* JPN TCH 

1964 Tokyo (JPN) URS* TCH JPN 

* USSR 

Men’s Olympic Ranking 

Countries 

Nb. of 

part. 

1964 

Rank 

1968 

Rank 

1972 

Rank 

1976 

Rank 

Algeria 1 – – – – – – – 12 – – – 

Argentina 5 – – – – – 6 3 – 8 4 5 

Australia 2 – – – – – – – – – 8 11 

Belgium 1 – 8 – – – – – – – – – 

Brazil 11 7 9 8 7 5 2 4 1 5 6 1 

Bulgaria 6 5 6 4 – 2 – 6 – 7 – – 

Canada 3 – – – 9 – 4 – 10 – – – 

China 1 – – – – – 8 – – – – – 

1980 

Rank 

1984 

Rank 

1988 

Rank 

C.I.S.* 1 7 

Cuba 6 – – 10 3 7 – – 4 6 7 – 

Czechoslovakia 5 2 3 6 5 8 – – – – – – 

Egypt 2 – – – – – 10 – – – 11 – 

France 3 – – – – – – 8 11 – – 9 

Germany (East) 2 – 4 2 – – – – 

Germany (West) 1 – – 11 – – – – 

Greece 1 – – – – – – – – – – 5 

Hungary 1 6 – – – – – – – – – – 

Italy 8 – – – 8 9 3 9 5 2 3 2 

Japan 7 3 2 1 4 – 7 10 6 – – – 

Korea 8 10 – 7 6 – 5 11 9 9 9 – 

Lybia 1 – – – – 10 – – – – – – 

Mexico 1 – 10 – – – – – – – – – 

Netherlands 6 8 – – – – – 5 2 1 5 9 

Poland 6 – 5 9 1 4 – – – 11 – 5 

Romania 3 4 – 5 – 3 – – – – – – 

Russia 3 4 2 3 

Serbia & Montenegro 1 – – – – – – – – – – 5 

Spain 2 – – – – – – – 8 – 9 – 

Sweden 1 – – – – – – 7 – – – – 

Tunisia 5 – – 12 – – 9 12 – 11 – 11 

United States 8 9 7 – – – 1 1 3 9 11 4 

USSR 6 1 1 3 2 1 – 2 

1992 

Rank 

1996 

Rank 

Yugoslavia 3 – – – – 6 – – Excl. 3 1 

* Ex-USSR (Commonwealth of Independent States) 

2000 

Rank 

2004 

Rank 

70

The Road to Beijing 

The 12 Men’s National Teams participating in the Olympic Games qualified as follows: 

World Cup 

Team from the host National Olympic Committee: China 

The top three teams of the 2007 FIVB World Cup held in Japan. 

The team finishing first in each Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament: 

1. Europe, in Izmir, Turkey 

2. North and Central America, in Caguas, Puerto Rico 

3. South America, in Formosa, Argentina 

4. Africa, in Durban, South Africa 

The team finishing first in each World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Espinho, Portugal, 

and Düsseldorf, Germany, and the winner and best Asian team at the World Olympic 

Qualification Tournament in Tokyo, Japan. 

1 Brazil 

4 USA 

7 Argentina 

10 Egypt 

2 Russia 

5 Spain 

8 Australia 

11 Korea 

3 Bulgaria 

6 Puerto Rico 

9 Japan 

12 Tunisia 

Continental Olympic Qualification Tournaments 

Europe (Izmir, Turkey) 

Pool A - Preliminary Round 

07.01.08 ITA-NED 3-0 29-27 25-18 25-10 

07.01.08 ESP-POL 3-2 19-25 25-22 26-28 25-21 15-11 

08.01.08 POL-ITA 3-0 25-20 26-24 25-21 

09.01.08 ITA-ESP 2-3 21-25 25-13 25-19 19-25 12-15 

09.01.08 NED-POL 3-2 19-25 25-23 25-19 16-25 15-13 

10.01.08 ESP-NED 1-3 24-26 25-22 19-25 17-25 

Pool B - Preliminary Round 

07.01.08 TUR-FIN 2-3 34-32 18-25 25-22 22-25 12-15 

08.01.08 SRB-FIN 3-0 26-24 25-23 25-18 

08.01.08 GER-TUR 3-2 25-20 17-25 21-25 25-19 15-12 

09.01.08 SRB-GER 2-3 22-25 26-24 25-22 19-25 11-15 

10.01.08 FIN-GER 3-0 25-23 25-15 25-16 

10.01.08 TUR-SRB 1-3 25-22 21-25 23-25 15-25 

Final Ranking 

1 Serbia 

2 Spain 

3 Netherlands 

3 Finland 

5 Germany 

5 Poland 

7 Italy 

7 Turkey 

Crossed Semi-Final matches 

12.01.08 ESP-FIN 3-1 25-22 21-25 25-16 25-16 

12.01.08 SRB-NED 3-0 25-23 27-25 25-21 

Final 

13.01.08 ESP-SRB 2-3 26-24 25-16 19-25 15-25 15-17 

North and Central America (Caguas, Puerto Rico) 

Group-A Preliminary Round 

06.01.08 DOM-USA 0-3 13-25 19-25 19-25 

06.01.08 PUR-BAR 3-0 25-13 25-12 25-19 

07.01.08 USA-BAR 3-0 25-14 25-10 25-16 

07.01.08 PUR-DOM 3-0 28-26 25-21 38-36 

08.01.08 BAR-DOM 0-3 19-25 19-25 17-25 

08.01.08 USA-PUR 3-0 25-21 25-23 25-22 

Group-B Preliminary Round 

06.01.08 CAN-TRI 3-0 25-9 25-14 25-15 

06.01.08 CUB-MEX 3-0 25-19 25-23 25-20 

07.01.08 TRI-MEX 0-3 20-25 13-25 11-25 

07.01.08 CUB-CAN 1-3 23-25 25-19 24-26 20-25 

08.01.08 TRI-CUB 0-3 13-25 8-25 15-25 

08.01.08 MEX-CAN 0-3 21-25 19-25 24-26 

Final Ranking 

1 USA 

2 Puerto Rico 

3 Cuba 

4 Canada 

5 Mexico 

6 Dominican Republic 

Semifinals 

10.01.08 CUB-USA 0-3 22-25 25-27 18-25 

10.01.08 CAN-PUR 0-3 39-41 21-25 19-25 

Finals 

11.01.08 CUB-CAN 3-1 25-23 25-23 24-26 25-23 

11.01.08 USA-PUR 3-0 25-20 25-19 25-20 

71

www.fivb.org 

South America (Formosa, Argentina) 

Single Round Robin 

03.01.08 CHI-PAR 2-3 27-25 14-25 25-18 24-26 10-15 

03.01.08 ARG-URU 3-0 25-16 25-16 25-16 

04.01.08 CHI-URU 3-0 25-22 25-20 25-21 

04.01.08 VEN-PAR 3-0 25-9 25-19 25-13 

05.01.08 VEN-CHI 3-0 25-16 25-20 25-21 

05.01.08 ARG-PAR 3-0 25-16 25-19 25-18 

06.01.08 VEN-URU 3-0 25-17 25-16 25-18 

06.01.08 ARG-CHI 3-0 25-14 25-14 25-18 

07.01.08 PAR-URU 3-1 23-25 25-20 25-23 25-16 

07.01.08 ARG-VEN 1-3 25-22 23-25 20-25 16-25 

Final Ranking 

1 Venezuela 

2 Argentina 

3 Paraguay 

4 Chile 

5 Uruguay 

Africa (Durban, South Africa) 

Preliminary Round 

03.02.08 GAB-MOZ 3-0 25-16 25-23 25-22 

03.02.08 NIG-ALG 0-3 19-25 13-25 20-25 

03.02.08 MOR-TUN 0-3 18-25 20-25 16-25 

03.02.08 RSA-CMR 0-3 17-25 19-25 22-25 

04.02.08 MOZ-MOR 0-3 16-25 15-25 12-25 

04.02.08 RWA-CMR 0-3 18-25 15-25 17-25 

04.02.08 EGY-TUN 3-2 27-25 29-27 20-25 23-25 16-14 

04.02.08 RSA-NIG 3-2 25-20 18-25 25-19 26-28 15-10 

05.02.08 EGY-GAB 3-0 25-14 25-21 25-10 

05.02.08 NIG-RWA 3-1 17-25 25-22 25-23 25-17 

05.02.08 TUN-MOZ 3-0 25-13 25-9 25-12 

05.02.08 ALG-RSA 3-0 25-18 25-20 26-24 

06.02.08 MOR-GAB 3-0 25-11 25-19 25-13 

06.02.08 ALG-RWA 3-0 25-17 25-19 25-17 

06.02.08 EGY-MOZ 3-0 25-11 25-12 25-18 

06.02.08 CMR-NIG 3-0 25-22 25-18 25-21 

07.02.08 TUN-GAB 3-0 25-15 25-15 25-15 

07.02.08 ALG-CMR 3-1 25-21 25-21 21-25 25-19 

07.02.08 EGY-MOR 3-0 25-21 25-17 25-21 

07.02.08 RSA-RWA 3-1 25-21 25-22 30-32 31-29 

Semifinals 

08.02.08 ALG-TUN 3-2 22-25 25-22 25-22 20-25 15-8 

08.02.08 EGY-CMR 3-1 19-25 25-23 25-21 28-26 

Final Ranking 

1 Egypt 

2 Algeria 

3 Cameroon 

4 Tunisia 

Finals 

09.02.08 CMR-TUN 3-2 20-25 22-25 25-18 25-22 16-14 

09.02.08 EGY-ALG 3-2 26-24 25-20 25-27 22-25 15-9 

72

Asian and World Olympic Qualification Tournament 

Tokyo, Japan 

31.05.08 AUS-THA 3-0 25-12 25-15 25-14 

31.05.08 KOR-ARG 1-3 25-16 23-25 23-25 27-29 

31.05.08 ALG-IRI 3-2 35-37 18-25 25-21 27-25 19-17 

31.05.08 ITA-JPN 3-2 25-20 28-30 28-30 35-33 15-7 

01.06.08 THA-ALG 0-3 23-25 21-25 15-25 

01.06.08 ARG-AUS 0-3 16-25 20-25 18-25 

01.06.08 ITA-KOR 3-0 25-18 25-17 25-21 

01.06.08 JPN-IRI 3-1 25-19 25-17 23-25 25-22 

03.06.08 ALG-ARG 0-3 18-25 24-26 22-25 

03.06.08 AUS-ITA 0-3 17-25 9-25 16-25 

03.06.08 IRI-THA 3-1 19-25 25-15 25-23 25-14 

03.06.08 KOR-JPN 1-3 21-25 25-21 23-25 19-25 

04.06.08 ARG-IRI 3-1 25-27 27-25 25-19 25-9 

04.06.08 KOR-AUS 3-2 27-29 25-21 21-25 25-20 15-10 

04.06.08 ITA-ALG 3-0 25-15 25-21 25-20 

04.06.08 JPN-THA 3-0 25-23 25-14 25-16 

06.06.08 THA-ARG 0-3 15-25 20-25 16-25 

06.06.08 IRI-ITA 0-3 16-25 20-25 18-25 

06.06.08 ALG-KOR 0-3 9-25 19-25 17-25 

06.06.08 AUS-JPN 0-3 22-25 26-28 27-29 

07.06.08 KOR-IRI 3-1 25-19 25-20 22-25 25-22 

07.06.08 AUS-ALG 3-1 25-22 25-19 18-25 25-20 

07.06.08 ITA-THA 3-0 25-19 25-19 26-24 

07.06.08 JPN-ARG 3-2 26-28 25-13 25-19 17-25 20-18 

08.06.08 THA-KOR 1-3 18-25 25-20 18-25 21-25 

08.06.08 IRI-AUS 3-0 25-18 25-16 25-23 

08.06.08 ARG-ITA 2-3 19-25 19-25 25-22 25-21 5-15 

08.06.08 ALG-JPN 0-3 20-25 13-25 18-25 

Final Ranking 

1 Italy 

2 Japan 

3 Korea 

4 Argentina 

5 Australia 

6 Iran 

7 Algeria 

8 Thailand 

Espinho, Portugal 

30.05.08 INA-POR 0-3 23-25 17-25 21-25 

30.05.08 POL-PUR 3-0 25-23 25-18 25-14 

31.05.08 INA-POL 0-3 20-25 17-25 23-25 

31.05.08 POR-PUR 3-1 25-15 22-25 25-11 25-18 

01.06.08 PUR-INA 3-0 25-21 25-21 25-22 

01.06.08 POR-POL 0-3 21-25 19-25 24-26 

Final Ranking 

1 Poland 

2 Portugal 

3 Puerto Rico 

4 Indonesia 

Düsseldorf, Germany 

23.05.08 TPE-GER 0-3 18-25 15-25 17-25 

23.05.08 ESP-CUB 1-3 18-25 25-18 20-25 17-25 

24.05.08 ESP-TPE 3-1 25-19 25-15 23-25 25-20 

24.05.08 CUB-GER 2-3 26-24 25-21 21-25 18-25 13-15 

25.06.08 TPE-CUB 0-3 14-25 18-25 16-25 

25.06.08 GER-ESP 3-2 25-23 25-23 23-25 22-25 15-10 

Final Ranking 

1 Germany 

2 Cuba 

3 Spain 

4 Chinese Taipei 

73

Pool B 

www.fivb.org 

Brazil 

Brazil are the reigning Olympic Champions, World Champions, World Cup 

winners, World League title holders (2007) and Grand Champions Cup 

holders. In short, the dominant force in Men’s Volleyball. 

Eight years ago, they fell short of the lofty standards of today, finishing 

sixth at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. 

This triggered important changes ahead of the 2001 season. 

Bernardo Rezende, nicknamed Bernardinho, who had spent six years 

coaching the Brazilian women’s national team, was picked as coach of the 

Brazilian men’s national team. 

The effect was immediate – and long lasting. 

During the first season with Bernardinho in 2001, Brazil won three gold 

medals. In 2002, Brazil finished second in the World League after losing 

the title playing at home against Russia. However, in that same season, 

the Brazilians got their revenge by claiming the World Championship for 

the first time, beating the Russians in an epic five-setter in Buenos Aires. 

The beginning of the 2003 season started with a bang for the World 

Champions. Brazil clinched the World League gold medal for a third time. 

The year ended with Brazil conquering all at the World Cup in Japan, 

11 straight wins giving the South Americans their first triumph in the 

tournament and entry into the Athens Games. 

In 2004, Bernardinho led the Brazilians to their fourth World League title 

before guiding them in August to their second Olympic gold medal. Italy 

were beaten 3-1 in the final. 

Things would only get better in 2005, with the Olympic Champions 

gathering three golds. 

There was no letting up in 2006. Brazil grabbed gold in the World League 

and retained their World Championship title in Japan against Poland. Giba 

was elected Most Valuable Player, Dante the best attacker. 

In 2007, an astonishing sixth-straight World League title was wrapped up, 

with the Russians beaten in the final match. Setter Ricardinho was named 

best player, while middle blocker Gustavo was best blocker. 

The season ended on a high when a Giba-inspired Brazil retained the World 

Cup in Japan, bouncing back from an opening loss to the USA to win the 

next 10 games and qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games. 

●●Brasilia 

Area - 8,514,877 sq km 

Inhabitants - 186,750,000 

Capital - Brasilia 

74

Team Officials 

Match Schedule 

Manager - Luis Fernando Alves Branco 10.08 14:30 CAS BRA-EGY 

Head coach - Bernardo Rezende 12.08 14:30 CAS SRB-BRA 

Assistant coach - Ricardo Tabach 14.08 12:30 CAS BRA-RUS 

Doctor - Ney Amaral 16.08 20:00 CAS BRA-POL 

Trainer/Therapist - Guilherme Tenius 18.08 12:00 TIG GER-BRA 

75

Pool B 

Brazil 

Olympic medals 

2 1 0 

1 Bruno 

Name: Bruno Rezende 

Age: 22 

Born in: Rio de Janeiro 

Position: Setter 

Club debut: in 1998 - Hobby: Play - Lang.: 

Portuguese - Favourites: Book: Da Vince 

Code, Food: Barbecue 

2 Marcelinho 

3 

Born in: Rio de Janeiro, BRA 


Club debut: Clube Israelita Brasileiro (Rio de 

Janeiro - BRA) in 1987 - Intl. debut: Junior 

world championship (Rosário - Argentina) in 

1993 - Hobby: Footvolley / Beach / Music 

- Lang.: Portuguese - Favourites: Food: 

Brazilian, Movie: Adventure, Music: Pop, 

Other sports: Soccer 

Eder 

Name: Marcelo Elgarten 

Name: Eder Carbonera 

Age: 33 Age: 24 

Born in: Farroupilha - RS 

Position: Middle blocker 

Club debut: UCS - RS (Caxias do Sul, RS) in 

1999 - Intl. debut: friendly match (Varginha, 

MG) in 2001 - Hobby: Music shows and 

movies - Favourites: Food: Lasagna, 

chocolate, pasta and pizza, Music: Rock - U2 

- Sunday Bloody Sunday 

4 André Heller 

Name: André Heller 

Age: 32 

Born in: Sao Leopoldo - BRA 


Club debut: SC. Ginastica (Novo Hamburgo, 

R.S.) in 1990 - Intl. debut: Junior - South 

American Championship (Venezuela) in 

1994 - Hobby: Listening to Music - Lang.: 

Portuguese - Favourites: Book: Mistérios 

do coração, Food: Barbecue, Movie: Forrest 

Gump, Music: All Kinds, Other sports: Table 

Tennis 

7 Giba 

Club debut: Country Club Canadá (Londrina 

- Paraná - BRA) in 1991 - Intl. debut: Youth 

World Championship (Portugal) in 1993 - 

Hobby: Movies / Listening to music - Lang.: 

Portuguese - Favourites: Book: Spiritual 

Topics, Food: Pasta, Movie: Action/Comedy, 

Music: Pop 

5 Sidão 

6 Samuel 

Name: Sidnei Dos Santos Junior 

Name: Samuel Fuchs 

Age: 26 Age: 24 

Born in: São Caetano do Sul 


Club debut: Banespa (São Paulo - SP - 

BRA) in 1998 - Hobby: Traveling - Lang.: 

Portuguese - Favourites: Book: Jorge 

Amado, Food: Brazilian, Movie: Drama, 

Music: Brazilian Pop 

8 Murilo 

9 André 

Club debut: at school (Passo Fundo/RS) 

in 1996 - Intl. debut: South American 

Championship (Venezuela) in 2000 - Hobby: 

sleep - Lang.: Portuguese - Favourites: 

Food: Barbecue, Movie: Gladiator 

Born in: Curitiba - PR 

Position: Wing spiker 

Club debut: Santa Monica (Curitiba - PR) in 

1998 - Intl. debut: Youth South American 

Championship (Neuquen - Argentina) in 2000 

- Hobby: reading and watching movies - 

Lang.: Portuguese and English - Favourites: 

Book: O Vampiro que descobriu o Brasil, 

Food: Pasta, Movie: Gladiator, Music: Log B 

I see the light 

Name: Gilberto Godoy Filho Name: Murilo Endres Name: André Luiz Da Silva Nascimento 

Age: 31 Age: 27 Age: 29 

Born in: Londrina, BRA Born in: Brazil Born in: São João de Miriti/RJ 

Position: Wing spiker Position: Wing spiker Position: Wing spiker 

Club debut: Bom Pastor (Juiz de Fora - 

BRAZIL0) in 1993 - Intl. debut: Youth 

Continental Championship (Assunção 

Paraguai) in 1996 - Hobby: Music - Lang.: 

Portuguese - Favourites: Book: Contos 

Científicos, Food: Feijoada, Movie: Adventure 

10 Sérgio 

Name: Sérgio Dutra Santos 

Age: 32 

Born in: Nova Londrina, BRA 

Position: Libero 

Club debut: E.C. Palmeiras (São Paulo - 

BRA) in 1989 - Intl. debut: World League 

(Grece) in 2001 - Hobby: Travelling - Lang.: 

Portuguese - Favourites: Food: Brazilian 

food, Movie: Adventure 

11 Anderson 

12 Nalbert 

Name: Anderson Rodrigues 

Age: 34 

Born in: Belo Horizonte/MG, BRA 


Club debut: C. Oficiais da Polícia Militar (Belo 

Horizonte - MG. Brazil) in 1992 - Intl. debut: 

World League (Germany) in 2001 - Hobby: 

Music and traveling - Lang.: Portuguese - 

Favourites: Food: Brazilian, Movie: Titanic, 

Music: Samba 

Name: Nalbert Bitencourt 

Age: 34 

Born in: Rio de Janeiro, BRA 


Club debut: Tijuca T.C. (Rio de Janeiro 

- RJ - BRA) in 19862 - Intl. debut: Youth 

World Championship (Portugal) in 1991 - 

Hobby: Travelling, Beach and music - Lang.: 

Portuguese, English, Italian - Favourites: 

Book: O Alquimista, Food: Barbecue, Movie: 

Titanic, Music: U2, Other sports: Soccer 

13 Gustavo 14 Rodrigão 15 Manius 

Name: Gustavo Endres 

Age: 32 

Born in: Passo Fundo, BRA 


Club debut: EACNSC (Rio Grande do Sul 

- BRA) in 1991 - Intl. debut: Continental 

Championship (Venezuela) in 1994 - Hobby: 

Movies - Lang.: Portuguese - Favourites: 

Book: X - Files, Food: Barbecue, Movie: 

Independence Day, Music: Bon Jovi, Other 

sports: Soccer 

Name: Rodrigo Santana 

Age: 29 

Born in: Sao Paulo, BRA 


Club debut: Banespa (São Paulo - BRA) 

in 1993 - Intl. debut: Youth Continental 

Championship (Assunção - Paraguai) in 

1996 - Hobby: Travel - Lang.: Portuguese 

- Favourites: Book: Feliz ano velho, Food: 

Italian, Movie: Action, Music: Samba, Other 

sports: Soccer 

Name: Manius Abbadi 

Age: 32 

Born in: Porto Alegre, BRA 


Club debut: SOGIPA in 1986 - Intl. debut: 

in 1995 - Lang.: Por - Favourites: Book: 

Paulo Coelho, Food: Barbecue, Music: Reggae, 


76

16 Lucas 

Club debut: Porto Alegre in 2001 - Hobby: 

Movies - Lang.: Portuguese - Favourites: 

Book: Harry Potter, Food: Barbecue 

17 Marlon 

Name: Lucas Saatkamp 

Name: Marlon Yared 

Age: 22 Age: 31 

Born in: Lajeado 

Born in: Guaira 



Lang.: Portuguese 

Bernardo Rezende (BRA) 

Head Coach 

18 Dante 

19 Alan 

Name: Dante Guimaraes Amaral 

Age: 27 

Born in: Itumbiara/GO, BRA 


Club debut: Clube dos 50 (Goias) in 1995 

- Intl. debut: Continental Championship 

(Chile) in 1998 - Hobby: Going to the beach, 

music - Lang.: Portuguese - Favourites: 

Book: O Alquimista, Food: Brazilian, Movie: 

Action, Music: Rock, Other sports: Soccer 

Olympic Games 

2004 1 1964 7 

2000 6 

1996 5 

1992 1 

1988 4 

1984 2 

1980 5 

1976 7 

1972 8 

1968 9 

Grand Champions Cup 

2005 1 

2001 2 

1997 1 

1993 2 

World Championships 

2006 1 1966 13 

2002 1 1962 10 

1998 4 1960 5 

1994 5 1956 11 

1990 4 

1986 4 

1982 2 

1978 6 

1974 10 

1970 12 

World Cup 

2007 1 

2003 1 

1999 5 

1995 3 

1991 6 

1989 5 

1985 4 

1981 3 

1977 8 

1969 6 

Name: Alan Barbosa Domingos 

Age: 28 

Born in: Uberlandia, BRA 


Intl. debut: Junior World Championship 

(Tailand) in 1999 - Hobby: Dancing - 

Favourites: Book: A Arte da Felicidade, 

Food: Pasta, Movie: Gladiator, Music: Samba, 


List of Honours 

World League 

2007 1 1997 5 

2006 1 1996 5 

2005 1 1995 2 

2004 1 1994 3 

2003 1 1993 1 

2002 2 1992 5 

2001 1 1991 5 

2000 3 1990 3 

1999 3 

1998 5 

Cont. Championships 

2007 1 1981 1 

2005 1 1979 1 

2003 1 1977 1 

2001 1 1975 1 

1999 1 1973 1 

1997 1 1971 1 

1995 1 1969 1 

1993 1 1967 1 

1991 1 1962 1 

1989 1 1961 1 

1987 1 1958 1 

1985 1 1956 1 

1983 1 1951 1 

Bernardo Rezende, nicknamed “Bernardinho,” was 

born in Rio de Janeiro. He is 48-years-old, and 

was in charge of the Women’s National Team from 

1994 to 2000. In 2001, Rezende became Head 

Coach of the Brazilian Men’s National Team. 

Rezende played Volleyball from 1979 to 1986 in Rio 

de Janeiro. As a player, he won the bronze medal in 

the 1981 World Cup in Japan and the silver medal 

in the FIVB World Championship in Argentina in 

1982 and Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. 

In 1988, he stopped playing to work as assistant 

coach to Bebeto de Freitas at the 1988 Olympic 

Games in Seoul. Two years later, he became the 

Head Coach of Perugia Women in Italy, where 

he stayed until 1992. In 1993, still in Italy, he 

took charge of Modena’s team. By the end of that 

season, Rezende returned to Brazil and in 1994 

started as Head Coach of the Brazilian Women. 

That year, Brazil placed second in the World 

Championship, and won the World Grand Prix. 

In 1996, the team won the bronze medal at the 

Atlanta Olympic Games, and also the gold medal 

in the World Grand Prix. In 1998 Rezende led 

the Brazilians to a South American title, earned 

qualification for the World Championship and 

bronze in the World Grand Champions Cup in 

Japan. 

In 1999, Bernardinho won the silver medal in the 

World Grand Prix, gold in the South American 

Championship for the third time, and bronze in 

the World Cup. In 2000, he led Brazil to third place 

in the World Grand Prix and also at the Olympic 

Games in Sydney. 

After this success Rezende accepted the challenge 

of commanding the Brazilian Men in 2001. The 

choice could not have been better. Bernardinho 

has led the team to memorable victories such as 

gold in the 2002 and 2006 World Championships 

and five straight World League triumphs. 

After Olympic success in Athens in 2004, 

Bernardinho even found time to return at the end 

of the year to the Brazilian Superliga to be Head 

Coach of Rexona-Ade. 

Team Roster 

Nr Name/First Name Nickname Birthdate H W S B OG WC OTH Total Club 

1 Bruno Rezende Bruno 02/07/1986 190 76 323 302 Cimed 

2 Elgarten Marcelo Marcelinho 09/11/1974 183 78 321 308 7 7 86 100 Panathinakos A. O. 

3 Carbonera Eder Eder 19/08/1983 204 101 350 330 3 5 8 Cimed 

4 Heller André André Heller 17/12/1975 199 93 339 321 12 5 136 153 Cimone Modena 

5 Santos Junior Sidnei dos Sidão 09/07/1982 203 90 348 335 Cimone Modena 

6 Fuchs Samuel Samuel 04/03/1984 200 89 342 316 14 42 56 Lokomotiv Belgorod 

7 Godoy Filho Gilberto Giba C 23/12/1976 192 85 325 312 15 33 260 308 Iskra Odsintovo 

8 Endres Murilo Murilo 03/05/1981 190 76 343 319 7 24 31 Cimone Modena 

9 Nascimento André Luiz da Silva André 04/03/1979 195 95 340 320 8 21 141 170 Cimone Modena 

10 Santos Sérgio Dutra Sérgio L 15/10/1975 184 78 325 310 8 9 125 142 Copra V. Piacenza 

11 Rodrigues Anderson Anderson 21/05/1974 190 95 330 321 8 9 104 121 Ulbra 

12 Bitencourt Nalbert Nalbert 09/03/1974 195 82 329 309 10 36 262 308 Minas T.C. 

13 Endres Gustavo Gustavo 23/08/1975 203 98 337 325 16 27 268 311 Sisley Treviso 

14 Santana Rodrigo Rodrigão 17/04/1979 205 85 350 328 4 20 125 149 Lube Macerata 

15 Abbadi Manius Manius 13/04/1976 202 86 328 318 13 77 90 Bre Banca Cuneo 

16 Saatkamp Lucas Lucas 06/03/1986 209 101 340 321 7 20 27 Cimed 

17 Yared Marlon Marlon 27/07/1977 190 80 315 304 7 9 16 Bre Banca Cuneo 

18 Amaral Dante Guimaraes Dante 30/09/1980 201 86 345 327 16 12 116 144 Panathinakos A. O. 

19 Domingos Alan Barbosa Alan L 15/02/1980 189 75 354 323 7 7 Dinamo Moska 

77

Pool A 

www.fivb.org 

Bulgaria 

The year 2008 marks the 87th year since Volleyball first arrived in 

Bulgaria. The first national Volleyball championship was organised in 

1942. Now, Bulgaria has more than 111 registered Volleyball clubs and 

over 5,500 Volleyball players from all age groups. 

The Bulgarian Men’s team has been participating successfully in World 

and European Championships, Olympic Games and other international 

tournaments for almost for 50 years. 

Bulgaria finished third in their first appearance in the FIVB World 

Championship in Prague in 1949. The team also won the bronze medal 

in the World Championship in Moscow in 1952 and in Paris in 1986. They 

went one better in Sofia in 1970, claiming the silver medal, and they 

claimed another bronze medal in the tournament in Japan in 2006. 

In the European Championship, Bulgaria has finished among the first 

six teams nine times and four times among the medallists: They landed 

second place in 1951 in Paris and claimed bronze medals in 1955 in 

Bucharest, 1981 in Varna, Bulgaria, and 1983 in Berlin. 

A demonstrative tournament was held at Sofia’s National Stadium “Vassil 

Levski” in 1957, after which Volleyball became an official member of 

the Olympic Family. The Bulgarian Volleyball players were participants 

in the first Olympic tournament in Tokyo in 1964, where they finished 

fifth, in Mexico 1968, when they claimed sixth, Munich 1972, taking 

fourth place, Moscow 1980, when they won the silver medal, Seoul 

1988, finishing sixth, and Atlanta 1996, when they settled for seventh 

position. 

Bulgaria’s participation in the FIVB World League began in 1994, when 

they finished in fourth place. In Poland in 2007 they finished fifth. 

Meanwhile, in the most recent FIVB World Cup in 2007, the Bulgarians 

finished in third place, qualifying them for the Beijing Olympics. 

There are currently some excellent Volleyball players in the Bulgarian 

national team with the ones to watch including Plamen Konstantinov, 

Evgeni Ivanov, Hristo Tsvetanov, alongside good young players such as 

Matey Kaziyski, Danail Milushev, Andrey Zhekov and Boyan Yordanov. 

●●Sofia 

Area - 110,910 sq km 


Capital - Sofia 

78



Manager - Todorov Ivan 10.08 20:00 CAS BUL-CHN 

Head coach - Stoev Martin 12.08 22:00 CAS JPN-BUL 

Assistant coach - Todorov Vladislav 14.08 22:00 CAS BUL-USA 

Doctor - Zahariev Dinko 16.08 14:30 CAS ITA-BUL 

Trainer/Therapist - Iskrev Iskren 18.08 10:00 TIG BUL-VEN 

79

Pool A 

Bulgaria 


0 1 0 

1 Ivanov E. 

Name: Evgeni Ivanov 

Age: 34 

Born in: Sofia 


Club debut: CSKA (Sofia, BUL) in 1987 - 

Hobby: Modelism, computer - Lang.: ITA, 

ENG, RUS, FRA - Favourites: Book: Quo 

vadis, Food: Meat, Movie: The Negotiator, 

Music: all kinds, Other sports: Formula 1 

2 Tsvetanov 

3 

Born in: Cherven Briag 


Club debut: Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) in 1992 - 

Intl. debut: ECH in 2000 - Lang.: English, 

French, German, Greek - Favourites: Book: 

no favorite book, Food: Pizza, Movie: Action, 

Music: Metallica, Other sports: NBA 

Zhekov 

Name: Hristo Tsvetanov 

Name: Andrey Zhekov 

Age: 30 Age: 28 



Club debut: Slavia (Sofia, BUL) in 1993 

- Intl. debut: WCH (Argentine) in 2002 - 

Lang.: English, Russian, Greek - Favourites: 

Book: no favorite book, Food: Meat, Movie: 

Action, comedy, Music: all kind of music 

4 Yordanov 

Name: Boyan Yordanov 

Age: 25 



Club debut: Levski Siconco (Sofia, BUL) in 

1996 - Intl. debut: WCH (Argentine) in 2002 

- Hobby: Cinema - Lang.: English, Greek - 

Favourites: Book: It, Food: Pasta, Movie: 

Gladiator, Music: Various, Other sports: 

Football 

5 Gaydarski 

6 Kaziyski 

Name: Krasimir Gaydarski 

Name: Matey Kaziyski 

Age: 25 Age: 23 

Born in: Russia 


Club debut: Kozloduy (Kozloduy, BUL) in 

1994 - Intl. debut: World League (Various 

cities) in 2004 - Hobby: Fishing - Lang.: 

Russia - Favourites: Book: Shalom, Food: 

Pasta, Movie: Gladiator, Music: Pop folk, 

Other sports: Football 


Position: Universal 

Club debut: Slavia (Sofia, BUL) in 1993 - Intl. 

debut: WCH (Argentine) in 2002 - Lang.: 

English, Russian, French - Favourites: Book: 

Shougun, Food: Steak, Movie: Spoun, Music: 

Hip-hop, Other sports: Fighting 

7 Nikolov N. 

Club debut: Lukoil Neftohimik (Bourgas, 

BUL) in 1999 - Intl. debut: World League 

(Various cities) in 2006 - Hobby: TV - Lang.: 

English - Favourites: Book: It, Food: Steak, 

Movie: Various, Music: Various 

8 Stanev 

9 Ananiev 

Name: Nikolay Nikolov Name: Ivan Stanev Name: Metodi Ananiev 

Age: 22 Age: 23 Age: 22 

Born in: Karnobat Born in: Burgas Born in: Sofia 

Position: Middle blocker Position: Setter Position: Universal 

Club debut: Neftohimik (Burgas, BUL) in 

1996 - Intl. debut: WCH (Argentine) in 2002 

- Hobby: Music - Favourites: Book: Various, 

Food: Pasta, Movie: Action, Music: Various 

Club debut: Levski Siconco (Sofia, Bulgaria) 

in 1998 - Intl. debut: World League (various) 

in 2006 - Hobby: music - Lang.: English 

- Favourites: Book: thriller, Food: Meat, 

Movie: thriller, Music: rock 

10 Milushev 

Name: Danail Milushev 

Age: 24 

Born in: Varna 


Club debut: Cherno more BASK (Varna, BUL) 

in 1997 - Intl. debut: WCH (Argentine) in 

2002 - Hobby: computers - Lang.: English, 

Italian, French - Favourites: Book: action, 

Food: steak, Movie: action, comedy, Music: 

various 

11 Nikolov V. 

12 Bogdanov 

Name: Vladimir Nikolov 

Age: 30 



Club debut: Levski (Sofia, BUL) in 1992 - Intl. 

debut: WCH (Argentine) in 2002 - Hobby: 

computer games - Lang.: English, French, 

Japanese - Favourites: Book: Wheel of Time, 

Food: cream caramel, Movie: Gladiator, Music: 

Pop, Other sports: Formula 1 

Name: Teodor Bogdanov 

Age: 22 




1998 - Intl. debut: World League (various) 

in 2006 - Hobby: sports - Lang.: English 

- Favourites: Book: various, Food: pizza, 

Movie: Gladiator, Music: U2, Other sports: 

fitness 

13 Salparov 14 Stoykov 15 Aleksiev 

Name: Teodor Salparov 

Age: 25 

Born in: Gabrovo 


Club debut: CSKA Royal Cake (Sofia, BUL) 

in 1996 - Intl. debut: World League (Various 

cities) in 2003 - Hobby: music - Lang.: 

English, Russian - Favourites: Book: action, 

Food: pasta, Movie: action, Music: various 

Name: Kostadin Stoykov 

Age: 30 

Born in: Smolian 



1992 - Intl. debut: World League (Various 

cities) in 2004 - Hobby: music - Lang.: 

French, English, Russian - Favourites: Book: 

Vinetu, Food: pasta, Movie: Blade, Music: 

Greek, Other sports: Tennis 

Name: Todor Aleksiev 

Age: 25 

Born in: Plovdiv 


Club debut: Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) in 1995 

- Intl. debut: WCH (Argentine) in 2002 - 

Hobby: music - Lang.: English - Favourites: 

Book: various, Food: Bulgarian, Movie: Heat, 

Music: all kinds, Other sports: football 

80

16 Penev 

Club debut: Metalik Sopot in 1996 - Intl. 

debut: in 2002 - Favourites: Book: Under 

the youg, Food: steak, Movie: Knight’s tale, 

Music: Greek, Other sports: Football 

17 Konstantinov 

Name: Martin Penev 

Name: Plamen Konstantinov 

Age: 24 Age: 35 

Born in: Dimitrovgrad 




Club debut: Slavia (Bulgaria, Sofia) in 1984 

- Hobby: tennis - Lang.: ENG, GRE, RUS, 

POL, ITA, TUR - Favourites: Book: action, 

Food: pasta, Movie: action, Music: disco, 

Other sports: Formula 

Martin Stoev (BUL) 

Head Coach 

18 Tassev 

19 Sokolov 

Name: Ivan Tassev 

Age: 41 

Born in: Pazardzhik 


Hobby: fishing - Favourites: Book: 

Godfather, Food: pizza, Movie: Godfather, 

Music: Scorpion, Other sports: Football 

Name: Tsvetan Sokolov 

Age: 18 

Born in: - 


Intl. debut: Youth National team (Iran 

WCH) - Hobby: computers - Lang.: English - 

Favourites: Book: various, Food: bulgarian, 

Movie: action, Music: various 


Martin Stoev has been Head Coach of the 

Bulgaria Men’s National Team since 2005. 

That year, he led the team through qualifying 

for the 2006 World Championship and to fifth 

place in the World League. 

In 2006, the Bulgarians qualified for the 

European Championship, finished fourth in 

the World League and took the bronze medal 

at the World Championship in Japan. 

Stoev led the Bulgarians to an eighth-place 

finish at the European Championship in 2007 

and fifth place in the World League before 

guiding them to the bronze medal at the 

World Cup in Japan, thus securing a place at 

the Beijing Olympics. 

Olympic Games 

1996 7 

1988 6 

1980 2 

1972 4 

1968 6 

1964 5 


2006 3 1966 7 

2002 13 1962 4 

1998 7 1956 5 

1994 9 1952 3 

1990 5 1949 3 

1986 3 

1982 5 

1978 10 

1974 7 

1970 2 

World League 

2007 5 

2006 4 

2005 5 

2004 4 

2003 5 

1998 7 

1997 6 

1996 8 

1995 5 

1994 4 

Stoev, born October 3, 1971, played 

Volleyball from 1984 until he turned coach 

and represented Bulgaria from 1991 to 1999, 

playing more than 200 matches for the 

National Team. 

He is a three-time national champion of 

Bulgaria (twice with Levski Siconco, once with 

Minior Buhovo) and World Junior Champion 

(Cairo 1981), when he was nominated as 

Tournament MVP. 


World Cup 

2007 3 

1999 5 

1977 6 

1969 4 

1965 9 


2007 8 1981 3 

2003 10 1979 10 

2001 6 1977 5 

1999 7 1975 5 

1997 9 1971 7 

1995 4 1967 9 

1993 5 1963 4 

1991 5 1958 4 

1989 6 1955 3 

1987 11 1951 2 

1985 5 1950 4 

1983 3 

Team Roster 


1 Ivanov Evgeni Ivanov E. 03/06/1974 210 98 351 340 6 14 211 231 Jastrzebski Wegiel SA 

2 Tsvetanov Hristo Tsvetanov 29/03/1978 198 85 345 330 4 112 116 Budvanska Rivijera Budva 

3 Zhekov Andrey Zhekov 12/03/1980 190 82 340 326 1 28 29 Patron Patra 

4 Yordanov Boyan Yordanov 12/03/1983 197 86 358 335 1 5 6 Olympiacos Piraeus 

5 Gaydarski Krasimir Gaydarski 23/02/1983 204 96 350 330 1 27 28 Olympiacos Piraeus 

6 Kaziyski Matey Kaziyski 23/09/1984 202 93 370 335 1 30 31 Itas Diatec Trentino 

7 Nikolov Nikolay Nikolov N. 29/07/1986 206 97 350 332 5 5 Lukoil Neftohimik 

8 Stanev Ivan Stanev 07/07/1985 190 86 335 315 3 3 Lukoil Neftohimik 

9 Ananiev Metodi Ananiev 17/02/1986 202 100 340 330 1 6 7 Levski Siconco 

10 Milushev Danail Milushev 03/02/1984 200 93 358 335 1 29 30 Tours VB 

11 Nikolov Vladimir Nikolov V. 03/10/1977 200 95 345 325 2 105 107 Itas Diatec Trentino 

12 Bogdanov Teodor Bogdanov 29/01/1986 207 90 360 340 3 3 Levski Siconco 

13 Salparov Teodor Salparov L 16/08/1982 185 73 320 305 1 83 84 CSKA 

14 Stoykov Kostadin Stoykov 07/12/1977 199 85 349 329 40 40 VC “Nova” 

15 Aleksiev Todor Aleksiev 21/04/1983 200 96 347 327 1 15 16 Levski Siconco 

16 Penev Martin Penev 29/02/1984 194 95 338 315 Lukoil Neftohimik 

17 Konstantinov Plamen Konstantinov C 14/06/1973 202 93 350 330 6 4 265 275 Iraklis Thessaloniki 

18 Tassev Ivan Tassev 21/03/1967 189 90 334 316 1 58 59 CSKA 

19 Sokolov Tsvetan Sokolov 31/12/1989 205 100 337 319 3 3 Marek Union Ivkoni 

81



Manager - Zhang Rongfang 10.08 20:00 CAS BUL-CHN 

Head coach - Zhou Jianan 12.08 20:00 CAS VEN-CHN 

Assistant coach - Xie Guochen 14.08 20:00 CAS CHN-JPN 

Doctor - Song Weiping 16.08 10:00 TIG USA-CHN 

Trainer/Therapist - Zhang Luo 18.08 20:00 CAS CHN-ITA 

83

Pool A 

China 


0 0 0 

1 Bian H.M. 

Name: Hongmin Bian 

Age: 18 

Born in: Zhejiang, China 


Hobby: music - Lang.: Chinese - Favourites: 

Book: Magazine, Food: seafood, Movie: 

action, Music: pop, Other sports: NBA 

2 Ji Z. 3 He J. 

Name: Zhe Ji 

Name: Jiong He 

Age: 21 Age: 31 

Born in: Henan 


Club debut: Henan Tianguan in 2003 

- Hobby: reading - Favourites: Book: 

magazine, Food: Chinese food, Movie: 

Detective, Music: pop, Other sports: soccer 

Born in: Jiangsu 


Club debut: Shanghai (Shanghai, China) - 

Hobby: singing - Favourites: Book: fiction, 

Food: sea food, Movie: war, Music: pop, Other 

sports: soccer 

4 Yuan Z. 

Name: Zhi Yuan 

Age: 26 

Born in: Liaoning, China 


Club debut: Liaoning (shenyang, China) - 

Hobby: Music traveling - Favourites: Book: 

Magazine, Food: Chinese food, Movie: War, 

Other sports: Basketball, soccer 

5 Guo P. 

6 Shi H.R. 

Name: Peng Guo 

Name: Hairong Shi 

Age: 26 Age: 31 

Born in: Shanxi, China 


Club debut: Army (Beijing, China) - Hobby: 

music, reading - Favourites: Book: fiction, 

Food: Chinese food, Movie: war, Music: pop, 

Other sports: soccer 

Born in: Jiangsu 


Hobby: reading and thinking - Lang.: 

Chinese - Favourites: Book: literatuel, Food: 

Chinese food, Movie: fiction, Music: Classical, 

Other sports: Formula 1 

7 Zhong W.J. 

Club debut: Army (Beijing, China) - 

Hobby: reading traveling - Lang.: Chinese - 

Favourites: Book: Fashion magazine, Food: 

Chinese food, Movie: fiction, Music: Pop, 


8 Cui J.J. 9 Jiao S. 

Name: Weijun Zhong Name: Jianjun Cui Name: Shuai Jiao 

Age: 19 Age: 23 Age: 24 

Born in: Shandong Born in: Henan Born in: Henan 

Position: Wing spiker Position: Wing spiker Position: Setter 

Club debut: Henan (Zhengzhou, China) in 

2002 - Hobby: reading, listening to music 

- Lang.: Chinese - Favourites: Book: 

Magazine, Food: Chinese food, Movie: fiction, 

Music: pop, Other sports: soccer 

Hobby: travelling computer games - Lang.: 

Chinese - Favourites: Book: Fashion 

magazine, Food: Chinese food, Movie: war, 

Music: Jazz, Other sports: basketball, soccer 

10 Li C. 

Name: Chun Li 

Age: 26 

Born in: Shandong 


Club debut: Army (Beijing) - Hobby: 

Ice cream, reading - Favourites: Book: 

biography, Food: beef, Movie: war, Other 

sports: badminton, soccer 

11 Yu D.W. 12 Shen Q. 

Name: Dawei Yu 

Age: 24 

Born in: Shandong 


Club debut: Shandong (Jining, China) - 

Hobby: hiking, swimming - Favourites: 

Book: fiction, Food: Milk, Chinese food, 

Movie: Detective, Other sports: soccer 

Name: Qiong Shen 

Age: 26 

Born in: Shanghai 


Club debut: Shanghai (Shanghai, China) 

- Hobby: shopping, music, playing chess, 

computer games - Favourites: Book: novel, 

Food: sea food, Movie: pop, Other sports: 

Formula 1, NBA 

13 Jiang K. 14 Jiang F.D. 15 Yang Y.N. 

Name: Kun Jiang 

Age: 22 

Born in: Sichuan 


Club debut: Sichuan (Chendu, China) in 

2001 - Hobby: pet, shopping - Favourites: 

Book: cartoon, Food: Chinese food, Movie: 

Scientific movie, Music: pop & classical music, 


Name: Fudong Jiang 

Age: 25 

Born in: Qingdao, China 


Club debut: Army (Chengdu, China) - 

Hobby: Reading Travelling - Lang.: Chinese 

- Favourites: Book: Fashion, Novel, Food: 

Chinese Food, Movie: Detective, Music: Pop, 

Other sports: Volleyball 

Name: Yaning Yang 

Age: 24 

Born in: Shandong, China 


Hobby: travelling reading - Favourites: 

Book: detactive, Food: sea food, Movie: 

Carton, Music: classical 

84

16 Ren Q. 

Club debut: Shanghai (Shanghai, China) 

- Hobby: reading, listening to the music - 

Favourites: Book: cartoon, Food: sea food, 

Movie: cartoon, Music: pop, Other sports: 

Formula 1, soccer 

17 Sui S.S. 

Name: Qi Ren 

Name: Shengsheng Sui 

Age: 24 Age: 28 


Born in: Liaoning 



Club debut: Liaoning (Shenyang, China) - 

Hobby: swimming, travelling - Favourites: 

Book: Fashion magazine, Food: noodle, 

Movie: war, Other sports: soccer 

Jianan Zhou (CHN) 

Head Coach 

18 Fang Y.C. 19 Ma M. 

Name: Yingchao Fang 

Age: 26 



Club debut: Shanghai (shanghai, China) - 

Hobby: computer games, travelling - Lang.: 

Chinese - Favourites: Book: magazine, 

Food: Chinese food, Movie: fiction, Music: 

pop, Other sports: volleyball 

Olympic Games 

1984 8 


2006 17 1956 9 

2002 13 

1998 13 

1994 13 

1986 12 

1982 7 

1978 7 

1974 15 

1966 9 

1962 9 

Name: Ming Ma 

Age: 25 

Born in: Liaoning 


Club debut: Liaoning (Shenyang, China) 

- Hobby: computer, reading - Favourites: 

Book: magazine, Food: sea food, Movie: 

fiction, Music: pop, Other sports: basketball 


World League 

2007 9 1990 8 

2006 13 

2004 10 

2002 9 

1997 10 

1996 6 

1995 11 

1994 11 

1993 7 

1992 9 

Jianan Zhou, born in April 17, 1964, in 

Sichuan Province, was selected for the 

Sichuan Province team in 1982 and recruited 

to the Chinese National Team four years later. 

As the setter and captain of the Chinese Men’s 

Volleyball team from 1987 to 1999, Zhou led 

the Chinese team to win four gold medals in 

the Asian Championships and Asian Games 

from 1990 to 1999. Zhou also took part in 

many world major competitions. He appeared 

in three FIVB World Cups, three FIVB World 

Championships and played for several years 

in the FIVB World League. 

After retiring from the Chinese Men’s 

Volleyball team in 1999, he worked as Head 

Coach of the Sichuan Men’s Club team for 

several years. After Zhou’s appointment, 

Sichuan finished in first place in the Chinese 

National League many times. 

In 2006, the Chinese National Men’s Team 

was revamped and Zhou was appointed 

as Head Coach. Ahead of the Olympics in 

Beijing, Zhou planned to select a group of 

young players for the team, providing them 

with as much opportunity as possible to grow 

up rapidly and perform well during the 2008 

Games. 


2005 6 

1997 4 

World Cup 

2003 10 

1999 11 

1995 9 

1981 5 

1977 5 


2007 4 

2005 2 

2003 2 

2001 4 

1999 1 

1997 1 

1995 2 

1993 4 

1991 3 

“What we had done is all for the Olympics. 

The Chinese Men have not participated in the 

Olympic Games since 1994 in Los Angles, 

where they finished eighth,” said Zhou. “It is 

the most valuable opportunity for us to take 

part in the Beijing Olympic Games.” 

“Playing on home ground, we are going 

to show our fighting spirit and skill in the 

competition so as to satisfy our spectators.” 

Team Roster 


1 Bian Hongmin Bian H.M. 22/09/1989 210 95 355 330 8 8 Zhejiang 

2 Ji Zhe Ji Z. 25/10/1986 200 90 347 341 4 4 Henan 

3 He Jiong He J. 16/02/1977 188 76 342 332 Shanghai 

4 Yuan Zhi Yuan Z. 29/09/1981 195 88 348 334 5 93 98 Liaoning 

5 Guo Peng Guo P. 01/07/1982 200 84 360 337 5 45 50 Army 

6 Shi Hairong Shi H.R. 27/03/1977 192 80 350 335 6 90 96 Jiangsu 

7 Zhong Weijun Zhong W.J. 20/04/1989 199 80 347 335 15 15 Army 

8 Cui Jianjun Cui J.J. 01/08/1985 190 89 350 335 5 3 8 Henan 

9 Jiao Shuai Jiao S. 28/01/1984 194 76 350 341 4 4 Henan 

10 Li Chun Li C. 01/04/1982 190 82 348 332 11 65 76 Army 

11 Yu Dawei Yu D.W. 21/06/1984 199 90 345 335 5 73 78 Shandong 

12 Shen Qiong Shen Q. C 05/09/1981 198 84 359 349 11 147 158 Shanghai 

13 Jiang Kun Jiang K. 03/12/1985 197 90 340 330 6 6 Sichuan 

14 Jiang Fudong Jiang F.D. 10/01/1983 197 85 345 336 5 42 47 Sichuan 

15 Yang Yaning Yang Y.N. L 16/06/1984 183 73 336 326 4 4 Shandong 

16 Ren Qi Ren Q. L 24/02/1984 174 70 322 312 5 36 41 Shanghai Club 

17 Sui Shengsheng Sui S.S. 30/05/1980 192 75 345 334 5 116 121 Liaoning 

18 Fang Yingchao Fang Y.C. 03/08/1982 198 79 360 350 Shanghai 

19 Ma Ming Ma M. 05/04/1983 205 90 350 345 6 6 Liaoning 

85

Pool B 

www.fivb.org 

Egypt 

Egypt have been one of the leading lights in African Volleyball since 

they won the African Nations Championship in 1983 to qualify for the 

Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, where they finished 10th. 

The next appearance of the Egyptians in the Summer Games was at 

the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, where they finishing 11th, They 

succeeded in advancing to the Summer Games in Beijing once again in 

2008 by beating Algeria in a pulsating five-set final in Durban, South 

Africa, to win the African Olympic Qualification Tournament with a 100 

percent record. 

From 2005 to 2007, the team has started to reap the benefits of the 

plan to constantly feed and rejuvenate with up-and-coming youth and 

junior players. 

A hot streak of form started in 2005 when Egypt won the gold medal 

in Mediterranean Games in Almaria, Spain. They then claimed the 

African Nations Championship to qualify for the 2005 World Grand 

Champions Cup in Japan. 

Nowadays, Egypt can lay claim to be the best African nation, considering 

their participation in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 World League. 

An appearance in the 2006 World Championship in Japan supports 

this claim. 

In 2007, the team further proved their worth by winning all matches 

in the All African Games, also winning the 2007 African Nations and 

qualifying for 2007 World Cup in Japan. 

At the World Cup, Egypt, whose ranks are usually dominated with 

players from the mighty Al Ahly Club, stepped up a level and were 

highly competitive against world-class teams. The North Africans won 

their last three matches to finish in ninth place, an excellent result for 

an African Volleyball team. 

They were inspired by captain Hamdy Awad (Elsafi) and exciting young 

attacking talent Ahmed Abd Elnaeim (A. Salah). 

As of January 5, 2008, Egypt ranked 14th in the FIVB World Ranking. 

Their previous position was 18th. 

The team has made a huge leap in the last few years. The ambition 

now is to reach an even higher level and become one of the world’s 

top teams. 

Cairo ● 

Area - 980,870 sq km 


Capital - Cairo 

86



Manager - Abdel Rahman Oof 10.08 14:30 CAS BRA-EGY 

Head coach - Zakaria Ahmed 12.08 12:00 TIG EGY-POL 

Assistant coach - Meselhy Hany 14.08 12:00 TIG GER-EGY 

Doctor - Bahgat Hosam 16.08 12:00 TIG RUS-EGY 

Trainer/Therapist - Zalam Sameh 18.08 14:30 CAS EGY-SRB 

87

Pool B 

Egypt 


0 0 0 

1 Elsafi 

Name: Hamdy Awad 

Age: 36 

Born in: Alexandria 


Club debut: Smoha Club (Alexandrisa- Egypt) 

in 1982 - Intl. debut: World Championship in 

1998 - Hobby: travelling & reading - Lang.: 

Arabic, English - Favourites: Book: history, 

Food: Egyptian, Movie: Action, Music: classic, 

Other sports: football 

2 Abdalla 

3 

Born in: Cairo 


Club debut: Ahly (Cairo, EGY) in 1998 - 

Intl. debut: Youth Men World Championship 

(Cairo, Egypt) in 2001 - Hobby: Sports - 

Lang.: Arabic, English - Favourites: Book: 

History, Food: Chinese 

Gabal 

Name: Abdalla Ahmed 

Name: Mohamed Gabal 

Age: 24 Age: 24 

Born in: Mahala 


Intl. debut: World League (Various Countries) 

in 2006 - Lang.: Arabic/English - Favourites: 

Book: Comic, Food: Kofta, Movie: Spiderman, 

Music: Satana, Other sports: Beckham 

4 A. Salah 

Name: Ahmed Abdel Naeim 

Age: 23 



Club debut: Ahly (Cairo, EGY) in 1994 - Intl. 

debut: Youth World Championship (Cairo) 

in 2001 - Hobby: Sports - Lang.: Arabic, 

English - Favourites: Book: stories, Food: 

Italian, Movie: Comedian, Other sports: 

football 

5 Abdel Latif 

6 Alaydy 

Name: Abdel Latif Ahmed 

Name: Wael Al Aydy 

Age: 24 Age: 36 



Club debut: El Nasr (Cairo, EGY) - Intl. 

debut: World League (Various) in 2006 - 

Hobby: Sports - Lang.: English - Favourites: 

Book: Islamic, Food: Egyptian, Other sports: 

football 



Club debut: El Tayran (Cairo, EGY) in 1978 - 

Intl. debut: World Championship (Argentina) 

in 2002 - Hobby: Squash - football - Lang.: 

Arbic/English - Favourites: Book: History 

& Religious, Food: Fast food, Movie: Action, 

Music: Slow music, Other sports: football 

7 Ashraf 

Club debut: Zamalek (Giza, EGY) in 

1986 - Intl. debut: World Championship 

Qualification (Nigeria) in 1992 - Hobby: 

sports - Lang.: Arabic, English - Favourites: 

Book: history, Food: Oriental Food, Movie: 

action, Music: Soft, Other sports: Football 

8 S. Fathy 9 Elmahdy 

Name: Ashraf Abouelhassan Name: Saleh Youssef Name: Mohamed El Mahdy 

Age: 33 Age: 26 Age: 29 

Born in: Giza, Egypt Born in: Giza, Egypt Born in: Giza, Egypt 

Position: Setter Position: Wing spiker Position: Setter 

Club debut: Zamalek (Giza, EGY) in 1995 

- Intl. debut: Grand Champions (Japan) 

in 2005 - Hobby: Tennis - Lang.: Arabic - 

Favourites: Book: History, Food: Italian, 

Movie: Batman and Robbin, Music: Oriental, 

Other sports: Tennis 


debut: World Cup (Japan) in 2003 - Hobby: 

Walking - Reading - Lang.: Arabic/English - 

Favourites: Book: stories, Food: Lebanon 

Food, Movie: comic, Music: Light music, 

Other sports: Tennis 

10 Youssef 

Name: Ahmed Afifi 

Age: 20 

Born in: Giza, Egypt 


Club debut: Zamalek (Giza, EGY) in 1995 - 

Intl. debut: Youth Boys World Championship 

(Algeria) in 2005 - Hobby: Cycling - Lang.: 

Arabic, English - Favourites: Book: Sports, 

Food: Kofta, Movie: Gone in 60 seconds, 

Music: Ben Afflick, Other sports: Michael 

Jordan 

11 Elsayed 

12 Mansour 

Name: Mohamed Elnafrawy 

Age: 25 




debut: Youth Men World Championship (Cairo, 

Egypt) in 2001 - Hobby: Computers Sciences 

- Lang.: Arabic/English - Favourites: Food: 

fruits, Movie: Action, Other sports: Judo 

Name: Mahmoud Ismail 

Age: 22 

Born in: Alex 


Club debut: Smoha (Alex, EGY) - Intl. debut: 

Khazakhstan Tournament (Khazakhstan) in 

2006 

13 Moneim 14 Hossam 15 Mosad 

Name: Mohamed Badawy 

Age: 22 

Born in: Giza, Egypt 


Club debut: Zamalek (Giza , EGY) in 1994 - 


(Cairo, EGY) in 2001 - Hobby: Reading - 

Lang.: Arabic/English - Favourites: Book: 

Comic, Food: Egyptian, Movie: Look who’s 

talking too, Music: Asher, Other sports: 

Football 

Name: Hossameldin Gomaa 

Age: 24 

Born in: Kalyoubia 



debut: Youth Men World Championship (Cairo, 

Egypt) in 2001 - Hobby: dancing - Lang.: 

English - Favourites: Book: adventures, 

Food: indian, Movie: Action, Music: pop 

Name: Ahmed Abdel Fattah 

Age: 22 

Born in: Kuwait 


Club debut: Elshams (Cairo, EGY) in 2000 - 


(Thiland) in 2003 - Favourites: Book: 

Science, Food: Chicken, Meat, Rise, Movie: 

Action, Other sports: Tennis 

88

16 M. Ali 

Club debut: Zamalek (Giza, EGY) in 1999 

- Intl. debut: World League (Various 

Countries) in 2006 - Lang.: Arabic/English 

- Favourites: Book: History, Food: Pizza, 

Movie: Love stories, Music: Oriental, Other 

sports: Football 

17 Raouf 

Name: Mohamed Seif Elnasr 

Name: Mahmoud Abd El Kader 

Age: 24 Age: 23 

Born in: Cairo Born in: - 



Club debut: Ahly (Cairo, EGY) in 1995 - 

Intl. debut: Youth Men World Championship 

(Cairo, Egypt) in 2001 - Hobby: Computers 

- Lang.: Arabic, English - Favourites: Book: 

Comic, Food: Italian, Music: HipHop 

Ahmed Zakaria (EGY) 

Head Coach 

18 Daabousi 

19 Meawad 

Name: Mohamed El Daabousi 

Age: 21 

Born in: Damanhour 


Club debut: Damanhour (Alex, EGY) in 

1993 - Intl. debut: African Youth Boys’ 

Championship (South Africa) in 2004 - Hobby: 

swimming - Lang.: Arabic - Favourites: 

Book: Comic, Food: Egyptian, Movie: Action, 

Music: Tamer Hosni, Other sports: Tennis 

Olympic Games 

2000 11 

1984 10 


2006 21 

2002 19 

1998 19 

1986 14 

1978 23 

1974 17 

Name: Mohamed Meawad 

Age: 20 



Club debut: Elshams (Cairo, EGY) in 1996 - 

Intl. debut: Youth Boys African Championship 

(South Africa) in 2004 - Hobby: Reading - 

Lang.: Arabic, English, French - Favourites: 

Book: Romantic, Food: French, Arabic, 

English, Spanish, Movie: Message in a Bottle, 

Music: Tamer Hosni, Other sports: Football 


World League 

2007 13 

2006 13 

Ahmed Zakaria became Egypt Men’s Head Coach in 

2005 but has been a familiar face on the Egyptian 

Volleyball scene for many years as he was one of 

the most famous Volleyball players in Egypt in the 

1980s. 

Zakaria was a highly skilled middle blocker for the 

mighty “Al Ahly,” the dominant Club team in Egypt. 

Zakaria also enjoyed a 10-year career for the 

Egyptian National team from 1980 till 1990 and was 

member of the golden generation which won the 

African Nations Championship in 1983 to qualify for 

the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984. 

After Zakaria retired from playing, he started his 

coaching career with the Al Ahly Youth Team. 

He then coached in the United Arab Emirates, Al Ahly 

and Petrojet. 

In 1999 he was appointed Assistant Coach of the 

Egyptian National Team which defeated archrivals Tunisia 

to qualify for the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. 

He took courses in Data Volley and worked in this 

field for three years before returning to the Egyptian 

National Team in January 2005 as Assistant Coach to 

the famous Serbian Vecelin Vukovic. 

Under Vukovic’s supervision, the Egyptians achieved 

historic success, starting with qualification for the 

2006 World Championship in Japan. 


2005 5 

World Cup 

2007 10 

2003 12 

1995 11 

1985 8 

1977 11 


2007 1 1983 1 

2005 1 1976 1 

2003 2 1971 2 

1999 2 1958 15 

1997 5 1955 14 

1995 2 

1993 3 

1991 2 

1989 3 

1987 4 

They then won the gold medal at the 15th 

Mediterranean Games in Spain before winning the 

African Nations Championship in Cairo to qualify for 

the 2005 Grand Champions Cup in Japan. 

At this point, Zakaria stepped in to take over as Head 

Coach for the Grand Champions Cup when Vukovic 

retired. 

Egypt finished fifth at the Grand Champions Cup and 

then, in 2007 at the World Cup in Japan, Zakaria led 

his team to three victories including one against a 

strong Australian team. 

Zakaria’s most recent success is leading Egypt to victory 

at the African Olympic Games Qualification Tournament. 

They defeated top African teams Tunisia, Algeria and 

Cameroon to qualify for the Beijing Games. 

Team Roster 


1 Awad Hamdy Elsafi C 14/04/1972 202 105 346 327 5 20 296 321 Ahly 

2 Ahmed Abdalla Abdalla 10/10/1983 198 72 352 331 5 96 101 Gabeca 

3 Gabal Mohamed Gabal 21/01/1984 195 97 345 320 5 25 30 Elgaish 

4 Abdel Naeim Ahmed A.Salah 19/08/1984 197 87 342 316 10 96 106 Ahly 

5 Ahmed Abdel Latif Abdel Latif 13/08/1983 202 90 345 325 20 20 Ahly 

6 Al Aydy Wael Alaydy L 08/12/1971 178 76 0 0 10 116 126 Ahly 

7 Abouelhassan Ashraf Ashraf 17/05/1975 184 87 321 302 5 15 166 186 Zamalek 

8 Youssef Saleh S.Fathy 25/07/1982 191 92 338 316 10 76 86 Zamalek 

9 El Mahdy Mohamed Elmahdy 02/09/1978 196 96 340 335 10 186 196 Ahly 

10 Afifi Ahmed Youssef 30/03/1988 194 84 325 315 4 4 8 Zamalek 

11 Elnafrawy Mohamed Elsayed 09/06/1983 200 92 335 320 5 116 121 Ahly 

12 Ismail Mahmoud Mansour 07/04/1986 192 84 343 320 1 1 Smoha 

13 Badawy Mohamed Moneim 11/01/1986 197 99 335 322 3 20 23 Zamalek 

14 Gomaa Hossameldin Hossam 15/02/1984 199 92 344 324 5 76 81 Ahly 

15 Abdel Fattah Ahmed Mosad 14/06/1986 198 95 335 325 25 25 Elshams 

16 Seif Elnasr Mohamed M.Ali 05/09/1983 203 80 346 326 20 20 Zamalek 

17 Abd El Kader Mahmoud Raouf 12/05/1985 195 94 342 316 5 22 27 Ahly 

18 El Daabousi Mohamed Daabousi 01/03/1987 201 102 339 320 4 11 15 Sporting 

19 Meawad Mohamed Meawad L 26/08/1987 194 90 321 310 4 9 13 Elshams 

89

Pool B 

www.fivb.org 

Germany 

Germany booked a berth at the Olympics for the first time in 36 years 

after beating Cuba, Spain and Chinese Taipei at the Olympic qualifier 

in Düsseldorf in May. 

The last time they competed was at the Munich Olympics of 1972, 

when the East Germany team claimed second and West Germany 

team finished 11th. 

The only previous appearance before that was in 1968 when the East 

Germans finished fourth in Mexico. 

German Head Coach Stelian Moculescu knows he has a tough task 

ahead of him in Beijing and will be hoping his players will be on form. 

Most of the German team play their Club Volleyball outside of their 

home country in Italy Russia, Greece, Turkey and Poland. 

The German team’s strength is balance but that’s not to say the 

team is without stars. Middle blocker Stefan Hübner of Italy’s Treviso, 

opposites Christian Pampel of VfB Friedrichshafen and Jochen Schöps 

of Russia’s Odintsovo and outside hitter Björn Andrae of Poland’s 

Olsztyn are the big-name players. 

Moculescu’s men will hope to find the spark that gave them an 

excellent ninth-place finish at the 2006 FIVB World Championship. 

In the tournament in Japan, the Germans beat Australia, Greece, 

Cuba and France in the Preliminary Round with just a loss against the 

mighty Brazil and sailed into the second round. There, though, their 

luck ran out and they lost all four games against Italy, Bulgaria, USA 

and Czech Republic. The Germans dug deep, however, and won their 

last two matches against Puerto Rico and USA. 

The 2006 appearance was the Germans’ first showing at a World 

Championship for 12 years. After 1994, the Germans disappeared 

from view on the world stage but returned to take 13th place in the 

2001 FIVB World League and then ninth place at the 2002 and 2003 

events. 

The Germans competed at the 2007 European Championships in 

Russia, somewhat making amends after failing to qualify for the 2005 

event. They beat Serbia and Greece to qualify for the second round 

but a loss to the Netherlands hit them hard and this was followed up 

by a defeat against Spain. They rallied with wins against Slovakia and 

France, though, and finished fifth. 

Berlin ● 

Area - 357,021 sq km 


Capital - Berlin 

90



Manager - Mr. Giebels, Hartmut 10.08 22:00 CAS POL-GER 

Head coach - Mr. Moculescu, Stelian 12.08 10:00 TIG RUS-GER 

Assistant coach - Mr. Bernard, Stewart 14.08 12:00 TIG GER-EGY 

Doctor - Mr. Heinold, Dieter 16.08 12:30 CAS SRB-GER 

Trainer/Therapist - Mr.groth, Hans-joseph 18.08 12:00 TIG GER-BRA 

91

Pool B 


Germany 

0 1 0 

1 Popp 

Name: Marcus Popp 

Age: 26 

Born in: Karl-Marx-Stadt 


Club debut: AS Messine Paris (FRA) in 1990 

- Intl. debut: Olympic Qualification (Leipzig) 

in 2004 - Lang.: German, English, French 

- Favourites: Book: Sophie’s world, Food: 

cheesecake, Movie: Schindlers Liste, Music: 

Techno, Other sports: Table Tennis, Beach 

Volleyball 

2 Steuerwald 

3 

Club debut: TV Hausach (GER) - Intl. 

debut: Belgium in 2007 - Hobby: nothing 

special - Favourites: Book: nothing special, 

Food: Lasagne, Movie: nothing special, Music: 

nothing special, Other sports: Football 

Umlauft 

Name: Markus Steuerwald 

Name: Jan Umlauft 

Age: 19 Age: 21 

Born in: - Born in: - 



Club debut: TSV Friedberg (GER) - Intl. 

debut: Germany-China (Dessau, GER) in 

2008 - Hobby: Tennis - Lang.: German, 

English, French - Favourites: Book: Lord of 

the rings, Food: Pancake, Movie: Men on fire, 

Other sports: Table Tennis, Beach Volleyball 

4 Tischer 

Name: Simon Tischer 

Age: 26 

Born in: Mutlangen 


Club debut: DJK Schwäbisch Gmünd 

(Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany) in 1994 - Intl. 

debut: Croatia - Germany (Valpovo, Croatia) 

in 2002 - Hobby: internet, family - Lang.: 

German, English, French - Favourites: Book: 

books written by Dan Brown, Food: Greek 

Food, Italian Food, Movie: The Illusionist, 

Music: Rock, Trance, Other sports: Tennis 

7 Siebeck 

Club debut: SC Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany) 

in 1988 - Intl. debut: Belgium - Germany 

(St. Vith, Belgium) in 1999 - Hobby: nothing 

special - Lang.: German, English, Polish - 

Favourites: Food: steaks, Music: nothing 

special, Other sports: all sports 

10 Schöps 

Name: Jochen Schöps 

Age: 24 

Born in: Schwenningen 


Club debut: TG Schwenningen 

(Schwenningen, GER) in 1997 - Intl. debut: 

WL Germany - Cuba (Leipzig, Germany) in 

2002 - Hobby: Swimming - Lang.: German, 

English - Favourites: Book: Illuminati, Food: 

Pancake, Movie: Oceans 11-13, Music: all 

music, Other sports: soccer 

Name: Ralph Bergmann 

Age: 38 

Born in: Ruit an der Fildern 


Club debut: TV Schledehausen 

(Schledehausen, Germany) in 1984 - Intl. 

debut: Germany - Spain (Bottrop, Germany) 

in 1992 - Hobby: my two children - Lang.: 

German, English, French - Favourites: Book: 

nothing special, Food: Italian Food, Movie: 

once a week, Music: all music to relax, Other 

sports: Ballgames, Athletics 

5 Andrae 

6 Kampa 

Name: Björn Andrae 

Name: Lukas Kampa 

Age: 27 Age: 21 

Born in: Berlin Born in: - 


Club debut: SCC Berlin (Berlin, Germany) 

in 1993 - Intl. debut: Germany - Venezuela 

(Regenstauf, Germany) in 2000 - Hobby: 

Computer, go out with friends, - Lang.: 

German, English, Italian - Favourites: Book: 

no, Food: Potatoes with scrambled eggs, 

Movie: Seven, Other sports: Beach Volleyball, 

Swimming, Football 

8 Böhme 

9 Hübner 

Club debut: SCC Berlin (Berlin, Germany) 

- Intl. debut: 8-Nations-Tournament 

(Vilvoorde / BEL) in 2005 - Hobby: reading 

books, watching movies, listening to music - 

Lang.: German, English - Favourites: Book: 

Lord of the rings, Food: German Food, Movie: 

The Godfather I-III, Music: Techno, House, 

Dance 

Name: Frank Dehne 

Age: 32 

Born in: Berlin 


Club debut: SG Rupenhorn (Berlin, Germany) 

in 1985 - Intl. debut: Danmark vs Germany 

(Kopenhagen, Danmark) in 1996 - Hobby: 

Reading - Lang.: German, English, Italian - 

Favourites: Book: Tender Bar, Romances, 

Food: Greek Stuffed Tomatoes, Movie: 300, 

Team America, Music: Greek Pop, German Hip 

Hop, American Rock, Other sports: Snorkeling 

Name: Robert Kromm 

Age: 24 

Born in: Schwerin 


Club debut: Schweriner SC (Schwerin, 

Germany) in 1998 - Intl. debut: European 

Championship Qualification (Portugal) in 2004 

- Hobby: computer, sailing, billard - Lang.: 

German, English, Italian - Favourites: Food: 

Fish, salad, Movie: Matrix, Lord of the rings, 

Music: Black Music, Other sports: All 


Club debut: VFL Telstar Bochum (Wuppertal 

, GER) in 1999 - Intl. debut: Olympic 

Qualification Izmir (Izmir, Turkey) in 2008 

- Hobby: Sleeping, Poker, Nintendo Wii 

- Favourites: Book: Illuminati, Food: 

Barbecue, Movie: Action&Comedy, Music: 

nothing special, Other sports: Beach 

Volleyball, Soccer 

Name: Mark Siebeck Name: Marcus Böhme Name: Stefan Hübner 

Age: 32 Age: 22 Age: 33 

Born in: Schkeuditz Born in: Berlin Born in: Bielefeld 

Position: Wing spiker Position: Middle blocker Position: Middle blocker 

Club debut: Eimsbüttler TV (Hamburg, 

Germany) in 1984 - Intl. debut: Denmark 

- Germany (Kopenhagen, Denmark) in 

1995 - Hobby: nothing special - Lang.: 

German, English, Italian - Favourites: Book: 

my MacBook, Food: Sushi, Movie: King of 

Queens, Music: Coldplay 

11 Dehne 

12 Pampel 

Name: Christian Pampel 

Age: 28 

Born in: Gehrden 


Club debut: TV Hochstetten (Hochstätten, 

Germany) in 1995 - Intl. debut: Germany 

- Venezuela (Regenstauf, Germany) in 2000 - 

Hobby: Cycling, Climbing - Lang.: German, 

English - Favourites: Book: Säulen der Erde, 

Food: nothing special, Movie: Vier Fäuste 

für ein Halleluja, Music: Rock, Other sports: 

Cycling, Climbing 

13 Bergmann 14 Kromm 15 Günthör 

Name: Max Günthör 

Age: 23 

Born in: Friedrichshafen 


Club debut: VfB Friedrichshafen (Friedrichshafen) 

in 1997 - Intl. debut: 8-Nations-Tournament 

(Vilvoorde / BEL) in 2005 - Hobby: spending 

time with my girlfriend - Lang.: German, 

English - Favourites: Book: Lord of the rings, 

Books from Mankell, Food: Italian Food, Movie: 

Gladiator, Be cool, Music: Ska, Independent 

Music, Other sports: Handball 

92

16 Bakumovski 

Club debut: VC Minden (Minden, Germany) 

in 1993 - Intl. debut: World League (Porto, 

Portugal) in 2003 - Hobby: books, movies, 

my friends and my family - Lang.: German, 

English, Russian - Favourites: Book: “We” of 

Evgeny Zamyatin, Food: Asian, Movie: Matrix, 

Music: hip hop, black music, pop, Other sports: 

football, tennis, basketball, squash 

18 Grozer 

19 Kröger 

Name: György Grozer 

Age: 23 

Born in: Budapest 


Club debut: Vasas (Hungary) - Hobby: 

playing poker - Lang.: German, Hungarian 

- Favourites: Book: nothing special, Food: 

escalope chasseur, Movie: nothing special, 

Music: Hip Hop, Rock 

17 Steuerwald 

Name: Eugen Bakumovski 

Name: Patrick Steuerwald 

Age: 27 Age: 22 

Born in: Zapsrozhje (UKR) 

Born in: Wolfach 



Olympic Games 

1972 * 2 

1972 11 

1968 * 4 



2006 9 1956 23 

1994 9 

1982 *12 

1978 * 9 

1974 * 4 

1970 * 1 

1966 * 4 

1966 20 

1962 * 11 

1956 * 12 

World Cup 

1991 7 

1969 * 1 

1969 10 

1969 * 12 (Junior) 

1965 * 5 

Club debut: TV Hausach (Hausach / GER) in 

1993 - Intl. debut: 8-Nations-Tournament 

(Vilvoorde / BEL) in 2002 - Hobby: 

nothing special - Lang.: German, English - 

Favourites: Book: nothing special, Food: 

nothing special, Movie: nothing special, 

Music: nothing special, Other sports: nothing 

special 

Name: Thomas Kröger 

Age: 29 

Born in: Melle 


Club debut: Tura Melle (Melle, GER) in 1990 

- Intl. debut: European Championships 

(Qualification Round) (Düren) in 2006 - 

Hobby: all kinds of sports, languages - 

Favourites: Book: nothing special, Food: 

nothing special, Movie: nothing special, 

Music: nothing special 

* GDR 


World League 

2003 10 

2002 9 

2001 13 

1994 10 

1993 8 

1992 12 


2007 5 1979 * 9 

2003 7 1977 * 9 

2001 9 1975 * 7 

1997 9 1971 * 4 

1995 8 1971 16 

1993 4 1967 * 4 

1991 4 1967 18 

1989 * 9 1963 * 9 

1989 11 1963 15 

1983 * 6 1958 * 9 

1981 * 6 1958 19 

1981 11 

Stelian Moculescu (GER) 

Head Coach 

Stelian Moculescu is a Volleyball fanatic 

and has been for many years now. But this 

characteristic describes a lot of other lovers of 

Volleyball, too. The native Romanian stands 

out from the crowd, though, because of one 

simple fact: he has success. 

When he still was a player Moculescu 

celebrated numerous championships and cup 

victories as well as an Olympic participation 

in 1972 with the Romanian team, which 

finished fifth. 

As a coach he was successful very quickly. 

Wherever he was, titles fell like ripe fruit. He 

was German champion and cup winner as 

coach 29 times, with 16 titles in only the last 

nine years. 

Moculescu knows the German Volleyball scene 

like no other. Within the German Volleyball 

Federation he is well regarded. Through 

1987-1990 he was responsible for the Men’s 

National Team. 

He has also coached TSV München, VC 

Passau, TSV Milbertshofen, ASV Dachau and 

VfB Friedrichshafen. 

Since 1999 he has been Head Coach for the 

Men’s National Team once again and led 

Germany to two ninth place finishes in the 

FIVB World League in 2002 and 2003. 

His biggest goal is to play good Volleyball. 

“After that we have to try to reach the top,” 

he says. 

After the German team finished ninth at the 

2006 FIVB World Championship and fifth in 

the 2007 European Championship in Moscow, 

establishing themselves among the world’s 

elite, Moculescu achieved the highlight of 

his coaching career with qualification for the 

Olympic Games. 

He was born in 1950 in Kronstadt, Romania, 

and is married with three children. His 

nickname is “Stelu” and he plays golf off a 

handicap of 10 and is a keen tennis player. 

Team Roster 


1 Popp Marcus Popp 23/09/1981 192 83 344 328 11 65 76 Gabeca Montichiari 

2 Steuerwald Markus Steuerwald L 07/03/1989 182 79 340 318 30 30 VfB Friedrichshafen 

3 Umlauft Jan Umlauft 08/02/1987 199 83 329 315 evivo Düren 

4 Tischer Simon Tischer 24/04/1982 194 88 345 328 11 100 111 Iraklis Thessaloniki 

5 Andrae Björn Andrae C 14/05/1981 200 90 355 335 11 190 201 AZS Olsztyn 

6 Kampa Lukas Kampa 29/11/1986 189 80 330 315 2 2 Moerser SC 

7 Siebeck Mark Siebeck 14/10/1975 196 87 334 315 10 126 136 Halkbank Ankara 

8 Böhme Marcus Böhme 25/08/1985 210 104 359 343 19 19 SCC Berlin 

9 Hübner Stefan Hübner 13/06/1975 200 89 346 324 11 204 215 Sisley Treviso 

10 Schöps Jochen Schöps 08/10/1983 200 99 360 338 11 120 131 Iskra Odintsovo 

11 Dehne Frank Dehne 14/02/1976 202 93 343 325 9 272 281 AZS Olsztyn 

12 Pampel Christian Pampel 06/09/1979 198 90 363 341 11 191 202 VfB Friedrichshafen 

13 Bergmann Ralph Bergmann 26/05/1970 206 95 350 327 11 204 215 Moerser SC 

14 Kromm Robert Kromm 09/03/1984 212 92 363 339 10 96 106 RPA Perugia 

15 Günthör Max Günthör 09/08/1985 207 84 345 315 43 43 evivo Düren 

16 Bakumovski Eugen Bakumovski 11/10/1980 193 92 350 325 90 90 Most. Kedzierzyn 

17 Steuerwald Patrick Steuerwald 03/03/1986 178 77 324 315 4 4 TSV Unterhaching 

18 Grozer György Grozer 27/11/1984 200 99 374 345 11 11 Moerser SC 

19 Kröger Thomas Kröger L 11/06/1979 188 84 328 302 11 12 23 VfB Friedrichshafen 

93

Pool A 

www.fivb.org 

Italy 

The first success of the Italian Men’s National Team was the bronze 

medal won at the European Championships in 1948, but it was only 

in the early 1970s that Italy remained consistently near the top of the 

Volleyball tree, attending every Olympic Games from 1976 onwards. 

In 1984, the Italian team won the bronze medal at the Los Angeles 

Olympics, with Silvano Prandi coach of the Italians. 

It was in 1985 that those who were to become the stars of the 1990s 

gave a glimpse of their future success by claiming the silver medal at 

the Junior World Championships in Italy. 

In 1993, Italy set off on another series uninterrupted successes. Julio 

Velasco’s boys prevailed in the first edition of the World Grand Champions 

Cup, and then in 1994 defeated the Netherlands in the World Championship 

Final in Athens and gained the World League title for the fourth time. 

The Velasco era ended in 1996. The Italians missed out on the Olympic 

gold medal in the Final of the Atlanta Games, surrendering to the 

Dutch in a tie-break. The Italian team still took second place in the 

World League, though. 

Led by the Brazilian Bebeto, Italy played a major role in 1997: they 

conquered the World League Finals in Moscow and claimed the bronze 

medal at the European Championships in Eindhoven. In 1998, the 

Italians won the World Championship for the third time. 

At the beginning of 1999, there was a change on the bench with the 

arrival of Andrea Anastasi. He immediately started winning and Italy 

claimed the World League for the seventh time. 

In the 2000 World League, Italy won their eighth gold medal, defeating 

Russia. At the Olympic Games in Sydney, a bronze medal was theirs. 

The year 2003 started with new coach Gian Paolo Montali. The following 

year saw Italy win the World League silver medal and Olympic Games 

silver medal. 

There has been no additional silverware since then. At the end of 

2007, coach Anastasi returned to the bench to try to remedy this. His 

first step was to make sure Italy qualified for Beijing, which they did 

by romping to victory in the Tokyo Olympic qualifier in May, winning 

all seven matches in the round-robin event. 

● Rome 

Area - 301,308 sq km 


Capital - Rome 

94



Manager - Gavazzi Alberto 10.08 12:00 TIG ITA-JPN 

Head coach - Anastasi Andrea 12.08 12:30 CAS USA-ITA 

Assistant coach - Gardini Andrea 14.08 10:00 TIG ITA-VEN 

Doctor - Benelli Piero 16.08 14:30 CAS ITA-BUL 

Trainer/Therapist - Gargiulo Alessandro 18.08 20:00 CAS CHN-ITA 

95

Pool A 

Italy 


0 2 2 

1 Mastrangelo 

Name: Luigi Mastrangelo 

Age: 32 

Born in: Mottola (TA), ITA 


Club debut: Mottola in 1991 - Intl. debut: 

28-5-99 AUS-ITA 0-3 (Sydney) in 1999 - 

Hobby: music - Lang.: italian - Favourites: 

Book: Fiction, Food: pizza, Movie: western, 

Music: pop, Other sports: basketball 

2 Della Lunga 

3 

Gavotto 

Name: Dore Della Lunga 

Name: Mauro Gavotto 

Age: 24 Age: 29 

Born in: Chiaravalle 

Born in: Cuneo 



Intl. debut: Junior European Championship Lang.: Italian 

(Polonia) in 2002 

4 Manià 

Name: Loris Manià 

Age: 29 

Born in: Gorizia 


5 Vermiglio 

6 Meoni 

Name: Valerio Vermiglio 

Name: Marco Meoni 

Age: 32 Age: 35 

Born in: Messina, ITA 


Club debut: Sisley Treviso (Messina) in 1984 

- Intl. debut: 28-5-99 AUS-ITA 0-3 (Sydney) 

in 1999 - Hobby: Books - Lang.: Eng - Spa 

- Favourites: Book: Adventures, Food: Pasta 

and fish, Movie: Tre uomini ed una gamba, 

Music: Salsa and merengue, Other sports: 

Michael Jordan 

Born in: Padova, ITA 


Club debut: Petrarca Padova (Padova) in 

1987 - Intl. debut: 28-4-94 CUB-ITA 3-1 

(L’Avana) in 1994 - Hobby: Puzzle - Music 

- TV - Lang.: Italian - English - French - 

Favourites: Book: Il VII Papiro, Food: Pizza, 

Movie: The Matrix, Music: Pop music, Other 

sports: Waterpolo 

7 Paparoni 

8 Cisolla 

9 Martino 

Name: Alessandro Paparoni Name: Alberto Cisolla Name: Matteo Martino 

Age: 26 Age: 30 Age: 21 

Born in: San Severino Marche Born in: Treviso, ITA Born in: Alessandria 

Position: Wing spiker Position: Wing spiker Position: Wing spiker 

Club debut: Lube Macerata in 1996 

Club debut: Sisley Treviso in 1990 - Intl. 

debut: 29-11-00 ITA-All Stars 2-3 (Trento) in 

2000 - Hobby: Billiards - Lang.: Ita - Eng - 

Favourites: Book: L’Alchimista, Food: Pizza, 

Movie: Top Gun, Music: Pop, Other sports: 

Michael Jordan 

10 Tencati 

Name: Luca Tencati 

Age: 29 

Born in: Cremona, ITA 


Club debut: Sisley Treviso (Treviso) in 

1995 - Intl. debut: 29-11-00 ITA-All Stars 

2-3 (Trento) in 2000 - Hobby: Computer - 

Lang.: Italian, English - Favourites: Book: 

Il socio, Food: Pizza, Movie: Il Gladiatore, 

Music: Rock, Other sports: Ronaldo 

11 Zlatanov 

12 Corsano 

Name: Hristo Zlatanov 

Age: 32 

Born in: Sofia, BUL 


Club debut: Milan Volley (Milano) in 1990 - 

Intl. debut: 17-5-97 ITA-YUG 3-1 (Roma) 

in 1997 - Hobby: Music - Lang.: Bulgarian, 

English, Italian - Favourites: Book: I pilastri 

della Terra, Food: Pizza - Pasta, Movie: 

Schindler’s List, Music: Reggae & B - Black 

music, Other sports: Football - basketball 

Name: Mirko Corsano 

Age: 34 

Born in: Ugento (LE) 


Club debut: Olio Labate Ugento (Ugento) 

in 1988 - Intl. debut: 13-8-98 ITA-AUS 3-0 

(Fidenza) in 1998 - Hobby: Tennis - Lang.: 

Italian, English - Favourites: Book: Yellow, 

Food: Fish, Movie: Pulp Fiction, Music: Dire 

Straits, Other sports: Tennis, soccer 

13 Perazzolo 14 Fei 15 Birarelli 

Name: Lorenzo Perazzolo 

Age: 23 

Born in: Mantova 


Intl. debut: Youth European Championship 

(Liberec (CZ)) in 2001 

Name: Alessandro Fei 

Age: 29 

Born in: Saronno (VA), ITA 


Club debut: Foiano della Chiana (Foiano) 

in 1991 - Intl. debut: 8-5-98 ITA-POL 2-3 

(Arezzo) in 1998 - Hobby: Acquari - Lang.: 

Italian - Favourites: Book: Il Settimo Papiro, 

Food: Pasta, Movie: The Gladiator, Music: 

Rock, Other sports: Basketball 

Name: Emanuele Birarelli 

Age: 27 

Born in: Senigallia (AN) 


96

16 Bovolenta 

Club debut: Pallavolo Polesella (Ravenna) 

in 1989 - Intl. debut: 3-5-95 CUB-ITA 3-1 

(L’Avana) in 1995 - Hobby: Tennis - Lang.: 

Italiano-inglese - Favourites: Book: Settimo 

Papiro, Food: Pizza and pasta, Movie: Le ali 

della liberta, Music: U2 - Litfiba - Ligabue, 

Other sports: Ronaldo 

17 Sala 

Name: Vigor Bovolenta 

Name: Andrea Sala 

Age: 34 Age: 29 

Born in: Contarina (RO) 

Born in: Gallarate (VA) 



Andrea Anastasi (ITA) 

Head Coach 

18 Casoli 

19 Travica 

Name: Cristian Casoli 

Age: 33 

Born in: Varese 


Club debut: Sumirago in 1991 - Intl. debut: 

6-6-97 ESP-ITA 2-3 (Valencia) in 1997 - 

Lang.: Italian - English - Favourites: Food: 

Spaghetti, Movie: Star Trek, Music: Rock U2, 

Other sports: F1 

Olympic Games 

2004 2 

2000 3 

1996 2 

1992 5 

1988 9 

1984 3 

1980 9 

1976 8 


2006 5 1966 16 

2002 5 1962 14 

1998 1 1956 14 

1994 1 1949 8 

1990 1 

1986 11 

1982 14 

1978 2 

1974 19 

1970 15 

Name: Dragan Travica 

Age: 21 

Born in: Zagreb (CRO) 



World League 

2007 9 1997 1 

2006 6 1996 2 

2005 7 1995 1 

2004 2 1994 1 

2003 3 1993 3 

2002 4 1992 1 

2001 2 1991 1 

2000 1 1990 1 

1999 1 

1998 4 

When Andrea Anastasi played for the Italian Junior 

National Team, his trainer called him “Nano” (Dwarf) 

because his 181-cm frame was overshadowed by a team 

of giants. 

Over the years the “Nano” (Dwarf) has grown. First 

into a well-respected and successful International 

player, and then as a well-respected and successful 

Head Coach. 

Anastasi had a long career as a player. As a part of the 

Italian National Team he played 141 matches (his first 

was February 8, 1981, against All Stars). 

He won the FIVB World Championship in 1990, the 

European Championship in 1989 and the FIVB World 

League in 1990, ending his career as a National 

Team player in Athens in 1991 when he won the 

Mediterranean Games. 

In 1994, he started his training career in the Italian 

Championship, Serie A2, with the Bipop Brescia 

Team. From 1995 to 1999, he coached the Gabeca 

Montichiari Club. 

He first began training the Italian team in the 1999 

World League. 

His first season as Head Coach was a triumph: first 

place in the World League, first place in the European 

Championships and third place in the FIVB World Cup 

in Japan. 

In 2000, his second season as Italian National Team 

trainer, he won the World League in Rotterdam and 

the bronze medal at the Sydney Games. 

The year 2001 was a significant one for Anastasi with 

two silver medals, the first in the World League the 

next in the European Championship in Ostrava. 


2005 3 

1993 1 

World Cup 

2003 2 

1999 3 

1995 1 

1989 2 

1981 7 


2007 6 1983 4 

2005 1 1981 7 

2003 1 1979 5 

2001 2 1977 8 

1999 1 1975 10 

1997 3 1971 8 

1995 1 1967 8 

1993 1 1963 10 

1991 2 1958 10 

1989 1 1955 9 

1987 9 1951 8 

1985 6 1948 3 

He then quit his Italian job in 2002, after the 

National Team finished fifth in the Argentina World 

Championships. 

From 2006 to 2007 he coached the Spanish National 

Team, leading them to European Championship glory 

in Moscow in 2007. 

On October 16, 2007, the Italian Volleyball Federation 

called him back to coach the Men’s Italian Team and 

he is set to work with them until the 2010 World 


Anastasi was born in Poggiorusco, a province of 

Mantova, on October 9, 1960. He is married and he 

has two children. 

Team Roster 


1 Mastrangelo Luigi Mastrangelo 17/08/1975 202 90 368 336 16 20 208 244 M.Roma Volley 

2 Della Lunga Dore Della Lunga 25/07/1984 192 75 340 325 Itas Diatec Trentino 

3 Gavotto Mauro Gavotto 16/04/1979 201 88 350 330 6 6 Acqua Paradiso Gabeca 

4 Manià Loris Manià L 27/01/1979 190 76 330 315 Acqua Paradiso Gabeca 

5 Vermiglio Valerio Vermiglio 01/03/1976 190 83 342 320 8 9 174 191 Lube Banca Marche 

6 Meoni Marco Meoni 25/05/1973 197 86 338 313 16 12 205 233 Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza 

7 Paparoni Alessandro Paparoni 17/08/1981 191 75 340 314 30 30 Lube Banca Marche 

8 Cisolla Alberto Cisolla C 10/10/1977 197 86 367 345 8 11 109 128 Sisley Treviso 

9 Martino Matteo Martino 28/01/1987 197 84 340 322 Sparkling Volley 

10 Tencati Luca Tencati 16/03/1979 200 97 350 330 9 137 146 Cimone Modena 

11 Zlatanov Hristo Zlatanov 21/04/1976 204 103 355 315 103 103 Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza 

12 Corsano Mirko Corsano L 28/10/1973 190 87 342 303 8 21 129 158 Lube Banca Marche 

13 Perazzolo Lorenzo Perazzolo 30/10/1984 195 92 349 321 1 1 Antonveneta Padova 

14 Fei Alessandro Fei 29/11/1978 204 90 358 336 16 32 188 236 Sisley Treviso 

15 Birarelli Emanuele Birarelli 08/02/1981 200 95 332 316 7 7 Itas Diatec Trentino 

16 Bovolenta Vigor Bovolenta 30/05/1974 202 95 362 327 8 171 179 Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza 

17 Sala Andrea Sala 27/12/1978 202 96 359 340 Acqua Paradiso Gabeca 

18 Casoli Cristian Casoli 27/01/1975 192 85 345 315 9 90 99 Cimone Modena 

19 Travica Dragan Travica 28/08/1986 197 90 325 310 Sparkling Volley 

97

Pool A 

www.fivb.org 

Japan 

With great expectations, Tatsuya Ueta’s squad took up the challenge 

at the World Cup 2007, the first qualifier for the Beijing Olympics in 

2008. 

Unfortunately their results did not meet anyone’s expectations – Japan 

finished ninth, with three wins and eight losses out of 11 matches. 

Nevertheless, Ueta and those involved in the Men’s National Team were 

strongly convinced that despite the unsatisfactory result at the World 

Cup 2007 the players’ morale had been boosted and fundamental skills 

with combined offence had remarkably improved compared to those of 

several years ago. 

Furthermore, the young players, i.e. Yusuke Ishijima, Yu Koshikawa 

and Kunihiro Shimizu, had gained invaluable experience and confidence 

during the tournament. Experience is provided by 37-year-old team 

captain Masashi Ogino, who competed in the Barcelona Games in 

1992. After that, though, he spent years away from the National Team 

because of injury. 

Ueta’s squad was launched immediately after the huge disappointment 

of the Athens Olympic Qualification Tournament in 2004 - Japan has not 

qualified for the Olympics for successive tournaments. 

Japan finished eighth at the 2006 World Championship and were satisfied 

with this result. The goal of Ueta’s squad in 2007 was, of course, to 

secure a berth for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 at the World Cup. 

Ueta picked the best players for his squad for the World Cup as well 

as the World League. The training worked out well and Japan beat two 

European powerhouses, Italy and France, in the preliminary round. 

But at the Asian Men’s Championship in September in Jakarta, Japan’s 

squad, as the defending champion, threw away the lead and finished 

runners-up. 

After this and the World Cup disappointment and having no time to 

dwell on failure, Ueta’s Japan embarked on their next goal – to secure a 

berth at the Beijing Olympics at the Olympic Qualification Tournaments 

in May in Tokyo. 

This time they were successful, finishing second behind Italy with a 6-1 

win-loss record to advance as the best Asian team in the competition. 

Area - 377,873 sq km 


Capital - Tokyo 

Tokyo ● 

98



Manager - Hagiwara, Hideo 10.08 12:00 TIG ITA-JPN 

Head coach - Ueta, Tatsuya 12.08 22:00 CAS JPN-BUL 

Assistant coach - Otake, Hideyuki 14.08 20:00 CAS CHN-JPN 

Doctor - Hayashi, Mitsutoshi 16.08 22:00 CAS VEN-JPN 

Trainer/Therapist - Kubo, Yoshito 18.08 22:00 CAS JPN-USA 

99

Pool A 

Japan 


1 1 1 

1 Saito 

Name: Nobuharu Saito 

Age: 34 

Born in: Tochigi, JPN 


Club debut: Utsunomiya Hakuyo High 

(Tochigi, JPN) in 1989 - Intl. debut: World 

Cup (Tokyo, JPN) in 1995 - Hobby: Travel 

- Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: Food: 

Meat, Movie: The Big Blue, Music: American/ 

Europian music, Other sports: Figure Skating 

2 Sakamoto 

3 

Born in: - 


Club debut: Ibaraki, JPN in 1990 - Hobby: 

watching soccer - Lang.: Japanese - 

Favourites: Music: Mr. Children (Japanese), 

Other sports: Zico(soccer) 

Kitajima 

Name: Yuichiro Sakamoto 

Name: Takeshi Kitajima 

Age: 32 Age: 25 

Born in: Nagasaki, JPN 


Club debut: Nagasaki, JPN in 1994 - Intl. 

debut: in 2001 - Hobby: Watching movies - 

Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: Other sports: 

Hideki Matsui 

4 Shibata 

5 Usami 

6 Iwata 

Name: Kyohei Shibata 

Name: Daisuke Usami 

Age: 27 

Born in: Ibaraki, JPN 

Born in: Akita, JPN 

Position: - 


Lang.: Japanese Club debut: Jumonji club (Akita, JPN) in 1990 

- Intl. debut: Asian Youth Championship 

in 1997 - Hobby: Driving a car - Lang.: 

Japanese - Favourites: Book: Information 

Magazine, Food: Meat, Movie: Comedy, 

Music: Popular, Other sports: Soccer 

Name: Masayuki Iwata 

Age: 29 Age: 26 

Born in: Nara, JPN 


Club debut: Nara, JPN in 1991 - Hobby: 

playing golf - Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: 

Food: meat, chicken, Movie: Comedy 

7 Yamamoto 

Club debut: Tottori-Higashi Jr. High (Tottri, 

JPN) in 1992 - Intl. debut: Qualification for 

2000 Sydney in 2000 - Hobby: Driving, Golf 

- Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: Book: none, 

Food: Meat, Fish, Movie: none, Music: slowtempo, 

Other sports: Baseball, Soccer 

8 Ogino 

9 Tomimatsu 

Name: Takahiro Yamamoto Name: Masaji Ogino Name: Takaaki Tomimatsu 

Age: 30 Age: 38 Age: 24 

Born in: Tottori Born in: Fukui, JPN Born in: Miyagi, JPN 

Position: Wing spiker Position: Wing spiker Position: Middle blocker 

Club debut: Fukui high school (Fukui, JPN) 

in 1986 - Intl. debut: World Cup (Japan) in 

1989 - Hobby: Taking a bath, sauna - Lang.: 

Japanese - Favourites: Book: Any kinds, 

Food: Japanese food, Movie: Beauty and The 

Beast, Music: Exile(Japanese), Other sports: 

Baseball 

Club debut: Sambongi Junior Spots-club in 

1994 - Intl. debut: World League 07 in 2007 

- Hobby: Portable games - Lang.: Japanese 

- Favourites: Book: Comics, Food: Curry, 

Movie: Action movies, Music: J-pop, Other 

sports: Football 

10 Tanimura 

Name: Ko Tanimura 

Age: 25 

Born in: - 


Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: Book: novel, 

Food: noodle, Music: Def Tech (Japanese 

artist) 

11 Matsumoto 

12 Yamamura 

Name: Yoshihiko Matsumoto 

Age: 27 

Born in: Nagano, JPN 


Club debut: Togakushi Jr. High (Nagano, 

JPN) in 1993 - Intl. debut: in 2006 - Hobby: 

none - Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: Book: 

none, Food: Sweets, Movie: The Perfect 

Storm, Music: Any kinds, Other sports: Beach 

Volleyball 

Name: Kota Yamamura 

Age: 27 

Born in: Tokyo, JPN 


Club debut: Nakai JVC (Gumma, JPN) in 

1989 - Intl. debut: 14th Asian Games 

(Busan, Korea) in 2002 - Hobby: Watching 

people - Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: 

Book: The Copy Cat (Japanese), Food: Fruit, 

Movie: Japanese movie, Music: Ketsumeishi 

(Japanese), Other sports: Baseball 

13 Shimizu 14 Fukuzawa 15 Tsumagari 

Name: Kunihiro Shimizu 

Age: 21 

Born in: Fukui, JPN 


Club debut: Kamiusaka Junior VB Club 

(Fukui, Japan) in 1996 - Intl. debut: in 

2005 - Hobby: Listening to music - Lang.: 

Japanese - Favourites: Book: Tokyo Tower, 

a Japanese novel, Food: Meat, Movie: no 

preferance, Music: J-pop, Other sports: 

Basketball 

Name: Tatsuya Fukuzawa 

Age: 22 

Born in: Kyoto, JPN 


Club debut: Fushimi Junior High School 

(Kyoto, JPN) in 1997 - Intl. debut: World 

League in 2005 - Hobby: Snowboarding - 

Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: Book: Novel, 

Food: Japanese food, Other sports: Any 

kinds 

Name: Katsutoshi Tsumagari 

Age: 32 

Born in: Miyazaki, JPN 


Club debut: Fukushima Jr. Sports Club 

(Fukushima, JPN) in 1983 - Intl. debut: 

World League (Yugoslavia) in 2001 - Hobby: 

Playing with my kids - Lang.: Japanese - 

Favourites: Book: Novels, Food: Fruits, 

Movie: Sister Act, Music: Japanese pop, Other 

sports: Basketball 

100

16 Gottsu 

Club debut: Matsubushi Daini Jr. High 

(Saitama, JPN) in 1996 - Intl. debut: in 

2006 - Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: Book: 

Any kinds, Movie: none, Music: none, Other 

sports: All kinds 

17 Koshikawa 

Name: Yusuke Ishijima 

Name: Yu Koshikawa 

Age: 24 Age: 24 

Born in: Ibaraki 

Born in: Ishikawa, JPN 



Club debut: Moroe Junior (Kanazawa, 

JPN) in 1995 - Intl. debut: Asian Youth 

Championship (Iran) in 2002 - Hobby: 

Traveling - Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: 

Book: Regarding Top Athletes, Food: Chicken, 

Sushi, Movie: Driven, Music: Yuzu (Japanese), 

Other sports: Baseball, Soccer 

Tatsuya Ueta (JPN) 

Head Coach 

18 Tomonaga 

19 Sakai 

Name: Kosuke Tomonaga 

Age: 28 

Born in: Nagasaki, JPN 


Club debut: Matsubara Jr. (Nagasaki, JPN) 

in 1989 - Intl. debut: Asian Chanpionship 

(Thailand) in 2005 - Hobby: Watching sports 

- Lang.: Japanese - Favourites: Book: 

Japanese, Food: Meat, Fish, Movie: Twenty- 

Four, Music: Dreams Come True (Japanese), 


Name: Daisuke Sakai 

Age: 26 

Born in: Fukushima, JPN 


Club debut: Hibari Junior Volleyball Club 

(Fukushima, Japan) in 1989 - Intl. debut: 

in 2004 - Hobby: Golf, shopping - Lang.: 

Japanese - Favourites: Food: Meat, fish 

etc., Movie: no preference, Music: Any music, 


In 2004, immediately after the Japanese Men’s 

National Team failed to qualify for the Olympics 

in Athens, the Japan Volleyball Association 

appointed as Head Coach Tatsuya Ueta, then 

coach of Japan’s junior men’s national team. 

Since then, Ueta, who is considered a 

hardworking and progressive coach, has not 

only been coaching his squad very hard, but 

also collecting and studying lots of information 

from abroad. Consequently, he has built up his 

present Volleyball philosophy and the success of 

the national team so far has been entirely due to 

his efforts. 

Olympic Games 

1992 6 

1988 10 

1984 7 

1976 4 

1972 1 

1968 2 

1964 3 


2006 8 1966 5 

2002 9 1962 5 

1998 13 1960 8 

1994 9 

1990 11 

1986 10 

1982 4 

1978 11 

1974 3 

1970 3 


World League 

2007 13 1994 8 

2006 13 1993 6 

2005 10 1992 10 

2004 10 1991 7 

2003 13 1990 6 

2002 13 

2001 9 

1997 12 

1996 9 

1995 8 

Tatsuya Ueta was born in Shikoku, the smallest 

of Japan’s four main islands. He started playing 

Volleyball at the age of 12 and developed into an 

astute middle blocker. He played Volleyball for 

high school and university teams and gained a 

reputation as a good player even in his school 

days. He joined Nippon Steel Blazers in 1987 and 

played for the national team from 1989 to 1993. 

He was assistant coach of Nippon Steel Blazers from 

1995 to 1998, and head coach of Nippon Steel’s 

successor, Sakai Blazers, from 1999 to March 2001 

before joining the Japan Volleyball Association as 

coach of the junior men’s national team. 

His goal was to compete in the Olympics in Beijing 

and this aspiration was the motivation for his 

squad. In order to achieve this goal, he worked to 

improve his squad. 


2005 4 

2001 5 

1997 5 

1993 4 

World Cup 

2007 9 1965 4 

2003 9 

1999 10 

1995 5 

1991 4 

1989 6 

1985 6 

1981 6 

1977 2 

1969 2 


2007 2 

2005 1 

2003 6 

2001 3 

1999 4 

1997 2 

1995 1 

1993 3 

1991 1 

Although Japan’s squad ended up ninth at the 

FIVB World Cup in 2007 – this result disappointed 

everyone – the JVA decided to let Ueta lead the 

national team and pinned their hopes on Ueta 

guiding his players to Beijing. 

Ueta has been discovering weaknesses in the 

team throughout all of the recent competitions 

and studying how to correct them and how to 

improve his team. He believed that Japan would 

have no chance to go to Beijing without solving 

those problems. He was rewarded when Japan 

claimed the Asian Beijing berth at the Olympic 

qualifier in Tokyo, Japan, in June, the first time 

they had qualified for the Olympics in 16 years. 

Team Roster 


1 Saito Nobuharu Saito 29/09/1973 205 95 345 330 11 139 150 Toray Arrows 

2 Sakamoto Yuichiro Sakamoto 27/08/1975 195 88 343 333 Suntory Sunbirds 

3 Kitajima Takeshi Kitajima 16/12/1982 195 85 343 330 25 25 Sakai Blazers 

4 Shibata Kyohei Shibata 24/06/1981 190 84 355 325 26 26 Toray Arrows 

5 Usami Daisuke Usami 29/03/1979 183 83 330 320 100 100 Panasonic Panthers 

6 Iwata Masayuki Iwata 30/01/1982 179 66 315 300 Panasonic Panthers 

7 Yamamoto Takahiro Yamamoto 12/07/1978 201 90 345 331 21 135 156 Panasonic Panthers 

8 Ogino Masaji Ogino C 08/01/1970 197 98 340 320 11 31 225 267 Suntory Sunbirds 

9 Tomimatsu Takaaki Tomimatsu 20/07/1984 191 85 345 330 42 42 Toray Arrows 

10 Tanimura Ko Tanimura 15/08/1982 194 81 340 330 Panasonic Panthers 

11 Matsumoto Yoshihiko Matsumoto 07/01/1981 193 80 358 340 49 49 NEC Blue Rockets 

12 Yamamura Kota Yamamura 20/10/1980 205 95 350 340 11 120 131 Suntory Sunbirds 

13 Shimizu Kunihiro Shimizu 11/08/1986 194 95 345 320 42 42 Tokai Univ. Volleyball Club 

14 Fukuzawa Tatsuya Fukuzawa 01/07/1986 189 84 355 330 19 19 Chuo University 

15 Tsumagari Katsutoshi Tsumagari L 02/11/1975 183 78 320 305 11 148 159 Suntory Sunbirds 

16 Ishijima Yusuke Gottsu 09/01/1984 197 100 345 335 11 61 72 Sakai Blazers 

17 Koshikawa Yu Koshikawa 30/06/1984 190 87 348 335 11 98 109 Suntory Sunbirds 

18 Tomonaga Kosuke Tomonaga 22/07/1980 184 83 320 310 11 74 85 Sakai Blazers 

19 Sakai Daisuke Sakai L 22/10/1981 180 76 315 305 15 15 JT Thunders 

101

Pool B 

www.fivb.org 

Poland 

Poland boasts a strong Volleyball tradition. In the middle of the 1970s, 

the Polish squad claimed the top position and dominated the international 

Volleyball scene for several years. 

Poland triumphed at the FIVB World Championships in Mexico in 1974 and 

succeeded again two years later at the Olympic Games in Montreal, where 

the team won the Olympic title. 

Poland also claimed second place at five consecutive European Championships 

between 1975 and 1983. 

The Polish squad joined the FIVB World League in 1998 and finished 10th 

in the first year. They were eighth in 1999 and again in 2000. In 2001, 

Poland hosted the World League Finals for the first time and they finished 

seventh. 

One year later and led by coach Waldemar Wspanialy, Poland took another 

step forward and advanced to the World League Finals, where they claimed 

fifth place, re-launching the team into international prominence. 

One of the strongest and most innovative sides around on the international 

stage, Poland have gone from strength to strength in recent years. 

Poland finished fourth in the 2005 World League and fifth in the European 

Championships the same year. 

Things were going well for Poland but the feel-good factor disappeared on 

September 16, 2005, when Arkadiusz Golas, one of the most talented Polish 

Volleyball players, died in a car accident on the way to Austria during a road 

trip with Italian side Macerata. He was 24 years old. 

Argentine Raul Lozano replaced Stanislaw Gosciniak in December 2005 and 

big things have been expected since. 

The core group of players, based on the successful 1997 World Junior 

Champion lineup, includes Dawid Murek, Pawel Zagumny and twin towers 

Piotr Gruszka and Lukasz Kadziewicz, who both stand at 206-cm tall. 

Poland bounced back from the Golas tragedy and back into the world 

Volleyball elite by winning the silver medal at 2006 World Championships. 

In 2007, Poland hosted the World League Finals in Katowice and claimed 

fourth place in a super-successful finale that attracted bumper crowds. 

They qualified for Beijing by winning the Men’s Olympic qualifier in Espinho, 

Portugal, beating out the hosts, Puerto Rico and Indonesia. 

Warsaw ● 

Area - 312,685 sq km 


Capital - Warsaw 

102



Manager - Roman Witold 10.08 22:00 CAS POL-GER 

Head coach - Lozano Raul 12.08 12:00 TIG EGY-POL 

Assistant coach - Swiderek Alojzy 14.08 14:30 CAS POL-SRB 

Doctor - Adamczyk Grzegorz 16.08 20:00 CAS BRA-POL 

Trainer/Therapist - Stychno Jacek 18.08 12:30 CAS POL-RUS 

103

Pool B 

Poland 


1 0 0 

1 Nowakowski 

Name: Piotr Nowakowski 

Age: 20 

Born in: Zyrardow, POL 


Club debut: LKS Wrzos (Miedzyborow, POL) 

- Lang.: Polish, English 

4 Plinski 

Name: Daniel Plinski 

Age: 29 

Born in: Puck 


Club debut: Korab (Puck, POL) in 1994 - 

Intl. debut: WL 2005 (Bydgoszcz (POL)) in 

2005 - Hobby: karts, tennis, beach volley - 

Lang.: English - Favourites: Book: My Life 

- Lance Armstrong, Food: spaghetti, Movie: 

Testosteron, cast away, Music: dzem, Other 

sports: football, beach volley, tennis 

2 Winiarski 

3 

Born in: Bydgoszcz, POL 


Club debut: Chemik (Bydgoszcz, POL) in 

1995 - Intl. debut: in 2004 - Favourites: 

Book: Agatha Chrisite, Food: meat, Movie: 

thriller, Other sports: football 

Born in: Jaslo, POL 


Club debut: MDK (Warszawa, POL) in 

1997 - Intl. debut: Men’s Junior World 

Championship (Bahrain) in 1998 - Lang.: 

Polish, Italian - Favourites: Book: Forsyth, 

Food: Hungarian, Movie: Robert de Niro, 

Music: soul, Other sports: Basketball 

Gruszka 

Name: Michal Winiarski 

Name: Piotr Gruszka 

Age: 24 Age: 31 

5 Zagumny 

6 Kurek 

Born in: Oswiecim, POL 


Club debut: Hejnal (Kety, POL) in 1993 - 

Intl. debut: Olympic Games Qualification 

Tournament (Patras, Greece) in 1995 - 

Hobby: Sport, music - Lang.: Polish, Italian, 

English, French - Favourites: Book: S. F., 

Food: risotto, Movie: comedy, Music: Pearl 

Jam, Other sports: Tennis 

Name: Pawel Zagumny 

Name: Bartosz Kurek 

Age: 30 Age: 19 

Born in: Walbrzych 


Club debut: AZS PWSZ (Nysa, Poland) in 

1999 - Intl. debut: Poland in 2004 - Hobby: 

sport - Lang.: English - Favourites: Book: 

Harry Potter, Food: pizza 

7 Grzyb 

Club debut: AZS (Olsztyn, POL) - Favourites: 

Book: Harry Potter, Food: italian food, Movie: 

Lord of Ring, Music: radio mix, Other sports: 

tennis, football 

8 Wika 

9 Zygadlo 

Name: Wojciech Grzyb Name: Marcin Wika Name: Lukasz Zygadlo 

Age: 27 Age: 24 Age: 29 

Born in: Olsztyn Born in: - Born in: Czestochowa, POL 

Position: Middle blocker Position: - Position: Setter 

Club debut: Orion (Sulechow, POL) in 1990 

- Intl. debut: WL 2000 (Spokane) in 2000 

- Hobby: music, diving, surfing, - Lang.: 

Polish, English, Russian - Favourites: Book: 

no, Food: italian, Japanese food, Movie: no, 

Music: Depeche Mode, Other sports: diving 

10 Wlazly 

Name: Mariusz Wlazly 

Age: 25 

Born in: Wielun, POL 


Club debut: WKS (Wielun, POL) in 1996 - 

Intl. debut: European Championships in 

2004 - Hobby: sports - Lang.: English - 

Favourites: Book: science fiction, Food: Mc 

Donalds/ KFC, Movie: Matrix, Testosteron, 

Music: pop, rock, hip hop, Other sports: 

football, tennis 

11 Kadziewicz 

12 Woicki 

Name: Lukasz Kadziewicz 

Age: 27 

Born in: Olsztyn, POL 


Club debut: MKS Felgex (Dobre Miasto) 

in 1999 - Intl. debut: Qualification to ECH 

2003 (Sofia(BUL)) in 2001 - Hobby: movies 

- Lang.: Polish, English - Favourites: Book: 

Wiliam Warthon, Food: Polish Food, Movie: 

Sixth Sensee, Music: Soul, Techno, Other 

sports: no 

Name: Pawel Woicki 

Age: 25 

Born in: Tomaszow Mazowiecki 


Club debut: Lechia (Tomaszow Maz., POL) 

in 1995 - Intl. debut: ECH 2005 (Roma, 

(Italia)) in 2002 - Hobby: computer and 

music - Lang.: German - Favourites: Book: 

adventure, Food: spaghetti, Movie: polish 

commedy, Music: jazz, Other sports: football 

13 Swiderski 14 Gierczynski 15 Gacek 

Name: Sebastian Swiderski 

Age: 31 

Born in: Gorzow Wlkp, POL 


Club debut: Znicz (Gorzow Wielkopolski, 

POL) in 1997 - Intl. debut: Men’s Junior 

World Championship (Bahrain) in 1998 - 

Lang.: Polish - Favourites: Book: Trilogy 

of Henryk Sienkiewicz, Music: Scooter, Other 

sports: Speedway 

Name: Krzysztof Gierczynski 

Age: 32 

Born in: Gubin 


Club debut: Carina (Gubin, POL) in 1987 - 

Intl. debut: Qualification to ECH (Espinho, 

POR) in 1994 - Lang.: Polish - Favourites: 

Book: no, Food: Sushi, Movie: Gladiator, 

Music: Rock, Pop, Other sports: football, 

basketball 

Name: Piotr Gacek 

Age: 29 

Born in: Grodkow 


Club debut: Mechanik (Nysa, Poland) in 

1992 - Intl. debut: WL 2005 (Bydgoszcz 

(POL)) in 2005 - Hobby: music, telephone 

calls - Lang.: Polish - Favourites: Book: no, 

Food: Sushi, Movie: Seven, Music: Metallica, 

Other sports: football, tennis 

104

16 Ignaczak 

Club debut: KS Chelmiec (Walbrzych, Poland) 

in 1997 - Intl. debut: World League (Various 

cities) in 2000 - Hobby: Sport - Lang.: Polish 

- Favourites: Food: Pizza, Movie: Sandra 

Bullock, Other sports: Basketball 

17 Bakiewicz 

Name: Krzysztof Ignaczak 

Name: Michal Bakiewicz 

Age: 30 Age: 27 

Born in: Walbrzych, POL 

Born in: Piotrkow Tryb, POL 



Club debut: SMS (Rzeszow, POL) in 2001 - 

Intl. debut: in 2001 - Hobby: Music - Lang.: 

Polish, English - Favourites: Movie: Without 

of face, Music: Techno 

Raul Lozano (ARG) 

Head Coach 

18 Mozdzonek 

19 Bartman 

Name: Marcin Mozdzonek 

Age: 23 

Born in: - 


Club debut: AZS (Olsztyn, Poland) in 1999 - 

Intl. debut: Junior European Championship 

(Zagreb, Croatia) in 2003 - Hobby: sport - 

Lang.: Polish, English, Russian - Favourites: 

Movie: Spider Man, Music: Doda, Other 

sports: waterpolo 

Name: Zbigniew Bartman 

Age: 21 

Born in: Warszawa 


Club debut: Metro (Warsaw, Poland) in 

1997 - Intl. debut: Oualification Tournament 

Youth ECH (Poland) in 2004 - Hobby: cars, 

computers, traveling, good movies - Lang.: 

English, Italian, German - Favourites: Book: 

Quo Vadis, Food: italian, Movie: Men on fire, 

Music: Timberlake, Other sports: volleyball 


Raul Lozano was appointed Poland Men’s 

National Team Head Coach in December 

2005. The aim of the appointment was for 

Lozano to build a team that could win a medal 

at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. 

The Argentine, born September 3, 1956, 

in La Plata, Argentina, is the first foreign 

coach in the history of Polish Volleyball. He 

replaced Stanislaw Gosciniak, with whom the 

team went to the 2004 Olympic Volleyball 

Tournament quarter-finals. 

Many of the players promoted to the Senior 

National Team by Lozano are gold medallists 

from the 1997 and 2003 Junior World 


Olympic Games 

2004 5 

1996 11 

1980 4 

1976 1 

1972 9 

1968 5 


2006 2 1960 4 

2002 9 1956 4 

1998 17 1952 7 

1986 9 1949 4 

1982 6 

1978 8 

1974 1 

1970 5 

1966 6 

1962 6 

World League 

2007 4 

2006 7 

2005 4 

2004 7 

2003 9 

2002 5 

2001 7 

2000 8 

1999 8 

1998 10 

Lozano is one of the best coaches in the 

world. He has worked with teams in Italy, 

Greece as well as the Spanish National Team. 

With his Milanese team he won the World 

Cup, the CEV Confederation Cup with Lube 

Banca Macerata and Iveco Palermo and the 

Italian Championship with Sisley Treviso. 

In 2006, Lozano led Poland to the silver medal 

in the World Championships held in Japan, 

the biggest success of the last 30 years of 

Polish Men’s Volleyball. 


World Cup 

1981 4 

1977 4 

1969 8 

1965 2 


2007 11 1981 2 

2005 5 1979 2 

2003 5 1977 2 

2001 5 1975 2 

1995 6 1971 6 

1993 7 1967 3 

1991 7 1963 6 

1989 7 1958 6 

1985 4 1955 6 

1983 2 1950 6 

Lozano, married with one son, is a huge 

Volleyball fan and his favourite way of resting 

is to watch Volleyball. 

“I try to separate my job from being a fan but 

this is sometimes very hard,” Lozano says. 

He prefers technical and very fast Volleyball, 

as performed by his favourite team, Brazil. 

Team Roster 


1 Nowakowski Piotr Nowakowski 18/12/1987 205 90 355 340 Wkret-Met Domex AZS 

2 Winiarski Michal Winiarski 28/09/1983 200 82 355 335 11 87 98 Itas Diatec Trentino (ITA) 

3 Gruszka Piotr Gruszka C 08/03/1977 206 102 355 330 10 20 215 245 PGE Skra 

4 Plinski Daniel Plinski 10/12/1978 205 95 350 330 11 57 68 PGE Skra 

5 Zagumny Pawel Zagumny 18/10/1977 200 88 336 317 5 14 206 225 Mlekpol AZS 

6 Kurek Bartosz Kurek 29/08/1988 205 87 352 326 24 24 ZAK SA 

7 Grzyb Wojciech Grzyb 04/01/1981 205 104 360 340 14 39 53 Mlekpol AZS 

8 Wika Marcin Wika 09/11/1983 194 86 335 310 17 17 Asseco Resovia 

9 Zygadlo Lukasz Zygadlo 02/08/1979 200 88 345 325 10 117 127 ZAK SA 

10 Wlazly Mariusz Wlazly 04/08/1983 197 75 362 343 11 76 87 PGE Skra 

11 Kadziewicz Lukasz Kadziewicz 20/09/1980 206 84 360 335 11 91 102 Sparkling 

12 Woicki Pawel Woicki 29/06/1983 182 75 315 300 8 8 Asseco Resovia 

13 Swiderski Sebastian Swiderski 26/06/1977 193 88 354 325 5 9 215 229 Lube Banca Marche Macerata (ITA) 

14 Gierczynski Krzysztof Gierczynski 23/01/1976 193 81 337 324 3 3 Asseco Resovia 

15 Gacek Piotr Gacek L 16/09/1978 185 78 325 305 11 45 56 PGE Skra 

16 Ignaczak Krzysztof Ignaczak L 15/05/1978 188 86 330 315 5 3 135 143 Asecco Resovia 

17 Bakiewicz Michal Bakiewicz 22/03/1981 196 79 345 335 9 78 87 PGE Skra 

18 Mozdzonek Marcin Mozdzonek 09/02/1985 211 93 355 335 80 80 Mlekpol AZS 

19 Bartman Zbigniew Bartman 04/05/1987 198 83 352 320 10 10 Halkbank 

105

Pool B 

www.fivb.org 

Russia 

Russia compete in Beijing looking to go one better than they did in the 

major tournaments of 2007 and to improve on the bronze medal they won 

at the 2004 Athens Games. 

Every tournament had a silver lining for the Russians last year as they 

finished second in the FIVB World Cup, FIVB World League and the 

European Championship. 

It was a much-welcomed improvement on 2006, when they finished third 

in the World League in their hometown of Moscow but a disappointing 

seventh at the FIVB World Championship in Japan. 

Despite missing the brilliance of wing-spiker Pavel Abramov, best attacker 

at the 2002 World League, having the likes of Alexey Verbov, Best Libero 

at the 2006 World League, Vadim Khamuttskikh and Semen Poltavskiy in 

the ranks should put them in a confident mood. 

The USSR Volleyball Federation joined the FIVB in 1948 and in 1949 

participated in the inaugural FIVB Men’s World Volleyball Championships. 

They then put together a pretty successful run. The USSR Men’s team 

gained worldwide recognition by winning three Olympic titles (1964, 1968 

and 1980), six World Championships (1949, 1952, 1960, 1962, 1978, 

1982), four World Cup golds (1965, 1977, 1981, 1991) and were European 

Champions 12 times. 

In 1993, after the USSR Men’s National Team became the Russian Men’s 

National Team, they finished second in the World League Finals. 

It was business as usual, then, for the Russians. 

In 1996 and 1997 the team finished third in the World League Finals and 

in 1998 they placed second. 

Russia reclaimed the World Cup in 1999 and they took second in the European 

Championship. At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney the Russians captured 

the silver medal and did the same in the World League Finals. 

During the European Championships of 2001 the team took the bronze 

medal and another third place in the World League Finals. The following 

year was highlighted by winning the World League and placing second in 

the World Championship. 

In 2003 the team placed third in the European Championship and went 

one better in the 2005 edition. 

Area - 17,075,400 sq km 


Capital - Moscow 

● Moscow 

106



Manager - Iskakov Anvyar 10.08 10:00 TIG SRB-RUS 

Head coach - Alekno Vladimir 12.08 10:00 TIG RUS-GER 

Assistant coach - Placi Camillo 14.08 12:30 CAS BRA-RUS 

Doctor - Tregubov Yury 16.08 12:00 TIG RUS-EGY 

Trainer/Therapist - Serebrennikov Alexandr 18.08 12:30 CAS POL-RUS 

107

Pool B 

Russia 


3 3 2 

1 Korneev 

Name: Alexander Korneev 

Age: 27 

Born in: Moscow 


Club debut: MGFSO (Moscow) in 1992 

- Lang.: Russian - Favourites: Book: 

Historical, Food: chicken, Salad «Olivie», 

Movie: Fantasy, Music: any, Other sports: 

biathlon 

2 Poltavskiy 

3 

Born in: Odessa, Ukraine 


Club debut: Automobilist (St. Petersburg) 

in 1993 - Hobby: Cars - Lang.: Russian - 

Favourites: Book: Detective, Food: Sweets, 

Movie: All, Music: Dance, Other sports: 

Basketball, Tennis, Boxing 

Kosarev 

Name: Semen Poltavskiy 

Name: Alexander Kosarev 

Age: 27 Age: 30 

Born in: Ukraine 


Club debut: Nadzbruchie (RUS) in 1990 

- Intl. debut: in 1999 - Hobby: Fishing - 

Lang.: Russian - Favourites: Book: no 

favorite book, Food: Ravioli, Movie: The 

Godfather, Music: Club, Hip-Hop, Other 

sports: football 

4 Kruglov 

Name: Pavel Kruglov 

Age: 22 

Born in: - 

Position: - 

Club debut: Luch (Moscow) in 2000 - Intl. 

debut: European Championship in 2007 

- Hobby: Fishing - Favourites: Book: 

detective, Food: Russian, Movie: action, 

Music: electronic, Other sports: basketball 

5 Ushakov 

6 Grankin 

Name: Konstantin Ushakov 

Name: Sergey Grankin 

Age: 38 Age: 23 

Born in: Russia Born in: - 

Position: Setter Position: - 

Club debut: Radiotekhnik (Riga) in 1980 - 

Intl. debut: Junior International Tournament 

(Various Countries) in 1990 - Hobby: Cars 

- Lang.: Russian - Favourites: Book: Pikul, 

Food: Borsch, Movie: Bruce Lee, Music: Pop, 

Other sports: Ice hockey 

Club debut: Neftyanik (Yaroslavl(RUS)) - 

Intl. debut: world league in 2006 - Hobby: 

Computer - Favourites: Book: Fantasy, 

Food: russian, Movie: drama, Music: pop, 


7 Sokolov 

Club debut: Spartak (Moscow) in 1992 - Intl. 

debut: Various Countries in 2000 - Hobby: 

Computer - Lang.: English - Favourites: 

Book: no favorite book, Food: Any, Movie: 

Action, Music: all, Other sports: Football 

8 Tetyukhin 

9 Vadim 

Name: Alexander Sokolov Name: Sergey Tetyukhin Name: Vadim Khamuttskikh 

Age: 26 Age: 32 Age: 38 

Born in: Kolomna Born in: Margelan, Uzbekistan Born in: Kharkov, RUS 

Position: - Position: Wing spiker Position: Setter 

Club debut: Krylia Vostoka (Russia) in 1985 - 

Intl. debut: Junior International Tournament 

(Various Countries) in 1996 - Hobby: Fishing 

- Lang.: Russian, Italian - Favourites: Book: 

Detectives, Food: Fried Rice, Music: Any, 

Other sports: Ice hockey, football 

Club debut: Sport school (Cheliabinsk, 

Russia) in 1977 - Intl. debut: International 

Tournament (Moscow) in 1992 - Hobby: 

Motor races - Lang.: Russian - Favourites: 

Book: Detectives, Food: Any, Movie: Comedy, 

Music: Any, Other sports: Car racing, all 

10 Berezhko 

Name: Yury Berezhko 

Age: 24 

Born in: Komsomolsk-on-Amur 


Club debut: Neftianik Yar. (RUS) - Intl. 

debut: in 2005 - Hobby: music - Lang.: 

Russian - Favourites: Book: Modern Classics, 

Food: Sushi, Russian, Movie: Historical, 

Music: Club, Other sports: football 

11 Samsonychev 

12 Krasikov 

Name: Oleg Samsonychev 

Age: 26 

Born in: - 

Position: - 

Club debut: Lokomotiv - Intl. debut: world 

league in 2007 - Hobby: cars - Favourites: 

Book: no favorite book, Food: Russian, 

Movie: action, Music: meloman, Other sports: 

football 

Name: Dmitry Krasikov 

Age: 21 

Born in: - 

Position: - 

Club debut: Lokomotiv (RUS) in 1999 - 

Intl. debut: world league in 2008 - Hobby: 

computer - Favourites: Book: fantasy, Food: 

any, Movie: comedy, Music: electronic, Other 

sports: basketball 

13 Ostapenko 14 Egorchev 15 Volkov 

Name: Alexey Ostapenko 

Age: 22 

Born in: - 

Position: - 

Club debut: Neftyanik in 1998 - Intl. debut: 

WL in 2006 - Hobby: cars - Favourites: 

Book: Perfumer, Food: Russian, sushi, Movie: 

comedy, Music: electro, Other sports: ice 

hockey 

Name: Andrey Egorchev 

Age: 30 

Born in: Naberezhny Chelny 


Club debut: CJSOR (Nab. Chelni, Russia) 

in 1995 - Intl. debut: Youth CCH (Various 

countries) in 1996 - Hobby: cars, computer - 

Lang.: Russian - Favourites: Book: Thriller, 

Food: Sushi, Movie: Fantasy, Music: Dance, 

Other sports: no favorite sport 

Name: Alexander Volkov 

Age: 23 

Born in: Moscow, RUS 


Club debut: Dinamo (RUS) in 2000 - Intl. 

debut: European League (different countries) 

in 2004 - Hobby: computers - Lang.: Russian 

- Favourites: Book: Master & Margarita, 

Food: Salad «Olivie», Movie: comedy, Music: 

Club, Other sports: NBA 

108

16 Verbov 

Club debut: MGFSO (RUS) in 1990 - 

Intl. debut: QOGT (Germany) in 2004 - 

Hobby: Sleeping - Lang.: Russian, English 

- Favourites: Book: Dan Brown, Food: 

Ukrainian, Music: Various, Other sports: 

football 

17 Mikhaylov 

Name: Alexey Verbov 

Name: Maxim Mikhaylov 

Age: 26 Age: 20 

Born in: Moscow, RUS Born in: - 

Position: Libero Position: - 

Club debut: Yaroslavich (RUS) - Intl. debut: 

korea in 2008 - Hobby: music - Favourites: 

Book: no favorite book, Food: Russian, 

Movie: comedy, Music: dance, Other sports: 

ice hockey 

Vladimir Alekno (RUS) 

Head Coach 

18 Kuleshov 

19 Yanutov 

Name: Alexey Kuleshov 

Age: 29 

Born in: Fryazino, RUS 


Club debut: Iskra (Odintsovo) in 1993 - Intl. 

debut: in 1998 - Hobby: Drawing - Lang.: 

Russian - Favourites: Book: Detective, Food: 

Spaghetti, Movie: Comedy, Music: Rock&Roll, 

Other sports: Hockey 

Name: Alexandr Yanutov 

Age: 25 

Born in: Perm 


Club debut: Prikamie (RUS) in 1999 - Intl. 

debut: world league (RUS) - Hobby: fishing 

- Lang.: Russian - Favourites: Book: Tom 

Clancy, Food: sushi, Movie: Terminator, 

Music: the Beatles, Other sports: no favorite 

sport 

Russian Head Coach Vladimir Alekno started 

his Volleyball career in 1984 in the SKA Minsk 

Volleyball team. He also played for CSKA, 

Bulgaria’s Levski, Italy’s Asti and Spoletto 

and France’s Cannes and Tours. 

He is a double USSR league champion, 

Bulgarian league champion and French league 

champion and cup winner 

Alekno worked as Head Coach for Tours in 

France from 1999-2004. 

Olympic Games 

2004 3 

2000 2 

1996 4 

1992 ** 7 

1988 * 2 

1980 * 1 

1976 * 2 

1972 * 3 

1968 * 1 

1964 * 1 



2006 7 1966 * 3 

2002 2 1962 * 1 

1998 5 1960 * 1 

1994 7 1956 * 3 

1990 * 3 1952 * 1 

1986 * 2 1949 * 1 

1982 * 1 

1978 * 1 

1974 * 2 

1970 * 6 

World Cup 

2007 2 

1999 1 

1991 * 1 

1989 * 3 

1985 * 2 

1981 * 1 

1977 * 1 

1969 * 3 

1965 * 1 

* USSR ** CIS 


World League 

2007 2 1995 4 

2006 3 1994 6 

2003 7 1993 2 

2002 1 1992 ** 6 

2001 3 1991 * 3 

2000 2 1990 * 4 

1999 4 

1998 2 

1997 3 

1996 3 


2007 2 1983 * 1 

2005 2 1981 * 1 

2003 3 1979 * 1 

2001 3 1977 * 1 

1999 2 1975 * 1 

1997 5 1971 * 1 

1995 5 1967 * 1 

1993 3 1963 * 3 

1991 * 1 1958 * 3 

1989 * 4 1955 * 4 

1987 * 1 1951 * 1 

1985 * 1 1950 * 1 

In 2003, he became a cup winner in France 

and then league champion in 2004 before 

leading his team to bronze in the European 

Champions League. 

In 2005, he became Head Coach of Dinamo 

Moscow. They were champions and cup 

winners in Russia in 2006. 

Since March 1, 2007, Alekno has been Head 

Coach of the Russian Men’s National Team, 

leading them to three silver medals in 

2007 in the FIVB World League, European 

Championship and FIVB World Cup. 

Russian Alekno, born Dec. 4, 1966, in the 

city of Polotsk, is married with a son and a 

daughter. 

Team Roster 


1 Korneev Alexander Korneev 11/09/1980 200 96 348 339 11 148 159 Dynamo 

2 Poltavskiy Semen Poltavskiy 08/02/1981 205 89 346 338 11 188 199 Dinamo 

3 Kosarev Alexander Kosarev 30/09/1977 203 95 339 328 8 32 189 229 Dinamo-Tattrancegas 

4 Kruglov Pavel Kruglov 17/09/1985 205 90 351 342 14 89 103 Dinamo 

5 Ushakov Konstantin Ushakov 24/03/1970 198 77 343 332 30 31 436 497 Dinamo-Yantar 

6 Grankin Sergey Grankin 21/01/1985 195 87 351 320 7 56 63 Dinamo 

7 Sokolov Alexander Sokolov L 01/03/1982 193 80 315 310 27 27 Yaroslavich 

8 Tetyukhin Sergey Tetyukhin 23/09/1975 197 89 345 338 13 24 329 366 Dinamo-TTG Kazan 

9 Khamuttskikh Vadim Vadim C 26/11/1969 196 85 342 331 19 24 254 297 Fakel Novy Urengoy 

10 Berezhko Yury Berezhko 27/01/1984 198 90 346 338 11 147 158 Dinamo 

11 Samsonychev Oleg Samsonychev 11/03/1982 198 96 338 330 38 38 Iskra 

12 Krasikov Dmitry Krasikov 08/02/1987 202 95 349 330 39 39 Lokomotiv, RUS 

13 Ostapenko Alexey Ostapenko 26/05/1986 208 94 355 340 7 56 63 Dinamo 

14 Egorchev Andrey Egorchev 08/02/1978 206 113 353 342 8 9 169 186 Dinamo-TTG Kazan 

15 Volkov Alexander Volkov 14/02/1985 210 90 355 335 11 76 87 Dinamo, RUS 

16 Verbov Alexey Verbov L 31/01/1982 183 77 315 310 8 11 94 113 Iskra 

17 Mikhaylov Maxim Mikhaylov 19/03/1988 203 85 345 330 Yaroslavich 

18 Kuleshov Alexey Kuleshov 24/02/1979 206 96 353 344 16 20 253 289 Iskra 

19 Yanutov Alexandr Yanutov L 19/06/1983 195 83 335 315 13 13 Gazprom-Yugra 

109

Pool B 

www.fivb.org 

Serbia 

Ever since claiming the gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games, 

Serbia (formerly Serbia and Montenegro, formerly Yugoslavia) have 

consistently been in the mix when it comes to considering medal 

contenders for international men’s Volleyball events. 

Big, strong and fast, the Serbia side play with a passion that is 

unrelenting and enjoy playing a game that is heavy on the attack. 

It is at the Olympics that Yugoslavia really showed what they are 

capable of over the years. They placed sixth in Moscow (1980), 

improving at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta to win the bronze, and 

finally, as a result of the team’s hard work under the guidance of the 

tranquil-natured but steady handed coach Zoran Gajic, claimed the 

gold in Sydney 2000. 

Veselin Vukovic replaced Gajic just prior to the 2002 World 

Championship in Argentina, where the Olympic champions finished a 

creditable fourth. Vukovic continued to lead Serbia and Montenegro 

through a stunning 2003 World League campaign, when they lost in 

the final to Brazil, but after failing to come to an agreement with the 

National Federation Vukovic quit and was replaced by Ljuba Travica 

who took Serbia and Montenegro to a bronze-medal finish at the 2003 

World Cup. 

For many years the Serbians were led by the sure moves of the Grbic 

Brothers Vladimir and Nikola, the fatal services of Goran Vujevic, 

elected best server in the 2006 FIVB World Championships, the 

stopping blocks of Andrija Geric and Dula Mešter, and in attack the 

devastating spikes of one of the best young Volleyball players in the 

world, Ivan Miljkovic. 

In 2005, Serbia and Montengro had the great honour of organising the 

World League Finals. In the incredible final in front of 18’140 spectators 

in the Belgrade Sports Hall, the host was beaten by Brazil. 

The year 2007 was the first year as Serbia and the boys in blue, 

with a new team and younger players, finished ninth place in the 

World League, the worst-ever result in the event. They made 

amends somewhat, though, by claiming silver at the 2007 European 

Championship in Russia. 

Area - 88,361 sq km 


Capital - Belgrade 

● 

Belgrade 

110



Manager - Djurickovic Darko 10.08 10:00 TIG SRB-RUS 

Head coach - Kolakovic Igor 12.08 14:30 CAS SRB-BRA 

Assistant coach - Bulatovic Zeljko 14.08 14:30 CAS POL-SRB 

Doctor - Martinovic Ljuban 16.08 12:30 CAS SRB-GER 

Trainer/Therapist - Joksimovic Sasa 18.08 14:30 CAS EGY-SRB 

111

Pool B 

Serbia 


1 0 1 

1 Kovacevic 

Name: Nikola Kovacevic 

Age: 25 

Born in: Kraljevo 


Club debut: Ribnica (Kraljevo, SCG) in 1993 

- Intl. debut: Junior Balkan Championship 

(Ploiesti (ROM)) in 2001 - Hobby: Movies - 

Lang.: Serbian - Favourites: Book: Rubin, 

Food: Beans, Movie: Gladiator, Music: ZZ 

Top, Other sports: Tennis, Golf 

4 Janic 

Name: Bojan Janic 

Age: 26 

Born in: Leskovac 


Club debut: OK Crvena Zvezda (Belgrade, 

YUG) in 1993 - Intl. debut: Junior European 

Championships Qualification Tournament 

(Limassol, CYP) in 2000 - Hobby: Playing 

basketball in free time - Lang.: Serbian, English 

- Favourites: Book: Adventure, Food: Domestic, 

Movie: Comedies, Music: Domestic rock, Other 

sports: Domestic basketball, Football 

7 Stankovic 

Club debut: Timok (Zajecar, SCG) in 2000 

- Intl. debut: Junior Balkan Championship 

(Belgrade, SCG) in 2003 - Hobby: None - 

Lang.: Serbian, English - Favourites: Food: 

Pizza, pancakes, Movie: Gladiator, Other 


10 Nikic 

Name: Milos Nikic 

Age: 22 

Born in: Cetinje 


Club debut: Budvanska rivijera Budva (SCG) 

in 1997 - Intl. debut: Balkan Games (Vrsac, 

SCG) in 2001 - Favourites: Book: Gorski 

Vijenac, Food: Fish, Music: Zeljko Samardzic, 

Other sports: Basketball, Dejan Bodiroga 

Name: Tomislav Dokic 

Age: 22 

Born in: Belgrade 


Club debut: C. Zvezda, Belgrade (SCG) in 

1998 - Intl. debut: Tournament (Dunaffer, 

Hungary) in 2002 - Lang.: English - 

Favourites: Food: Sarma, Pancakes, Other 


2 Bojovic 

3 

Born in: Smederevska Palanka 


Club debut: OK Palanka (Smederevska 

Palanka, SCG) in 1997 - Intl. debut: Junior 

European Championship (Vladislavovo, POL) 

in 2002 - Hobby: Reading books - Lang.: 

Serbian, English - Favourites: Book: The 

Tzar Radovan Treasure (domestic), Food: 

Domestic food, Movie: Butterfly, Music: Sting, 

Other sports: Basketball 

Born in: Kraljevo 


Club debut: Ribnica (Kraljevo, SCG) in 1994 - 

Intl. debut: Qualification for European Junior 

Championships (Slovenia) in 2002 - Hobby: 

Table Tennis, collecting DVD’s - Lang.: Serbian, 

English - Favourites: Book: Men are from Mars 

and Women are from Venus, Food: Moussaka, 

Movie: Lord of Rings, Music: Metallica / James 

Hetfiled, Other sports: Table Tennis 

Club debut: Crvena Zvezda (Belgrade, SCG) in 

1992 - Intl. debut: Qualification Tournament 

for the U21 World Championships (Germany) in 

2003 - Hobby: Computer’s - Lang.: Serbian, 

English - Favourites: Book: “Treasure” - Clajv 

Kasler, Food: Domestic food, Movie: Godfather, 

Getaway from Shoshenko, Music: Eminem, 

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Other sports: Football 

Name: Ivan Ilic 

Age: 31 

Born in: Uzice 


Club debut: Mladost (Lucani, SCG) in 1987 - 

Intl. debut: University Games (Las Palmas, 

ESP) in 1999 - Hobby: None - Lang.: Serbian, 

English - Favourites: Book: Orwell, 1984, 

Food: Domestic, Movie: Los Sin Nombre, 

Music: Crutilo, Other sports: Football 

Name: Ivan Miljkovic 

Age: 28 

Born in: Nis 


Club debut: OK Student (Nis, Yugoslavia) in 

1992 - Intl. debut: Junior World Qualification 

Tournament (Bucharest, Romania) in 1997 - 

Hobby: Reading books, Drawing - Lang.: 

Serbian, English, French - Favourites: Book: 

War and Peace, Food: Everything, Movie: 

Domestics, Music: Disco, Other sports: 

Basketball 

Bjelica 

Name: Dejan Bojovic 

Name: Novica Bjelica 

Age: 25 Age: 25 

11 Ilic M. Ivan 

12 Geric 

Born in: Pula, YUG 


Club debut: Crvena Zvezda (Belgrade, 

YUG) in 1996 - Intl. debut: Qualification 

Tournament for European Championships in 

2000 - Hobby: Internet - Lang.: English, 

Italian - Favourites: Book: 1984, Food: 

Pizza, Movie: Dogma, Music: Rock 

5 Petkovic 

6 Cupkovic 

Name: Vlado Petkovic 

Name: Konstantin Cupkovic 

Age: 25 Age: 21 

Born in: Virovitica, Croatia 


Club debut: Mladi Radnik Pozarevac (SCG) 

in 1998 - Intl. debut: Balkan Games, ECH 

Qualifying (SCG, Estonia, Latvia) in 2004 - 

Lang.: English - Favourites: Book: Na Drini 

Cuprija, Food: Sarma, Movie: Godfather, 

Music: Faithless, Other sports: Football 

8 Samardzic 9 Grbic N. 

Name: Dragan Stankovic Name: Marko Samardzic Name: Nikola Grbic 

Age: 22 Age: 25 Age: 34 

Born in: Zajecar Born in: Belgrade Born in: Zrenjanin 

Position: Middle blocker Position: Libero Position: Setter 

Club debut: OK GIK Banat (Zrenjanin, 

Yugoslavia) in 1982 - Intl. debut: Junior 

International Tournament “Richard Mies” 

(Bruxelles, Belgium) in 1989 - Hobby: PC, 

Music - Lang.: Serbian, Italian, English - 

Favourites: Book: Various, Food: Italian, 

Movie: Domestic’s, Music: Pop & Rock 

Name: Andrija Geric 

Age: 31 

Born in: Novi Sad 


Club debut: OK Vojvodina (Novi Sad, 

Yugoslavia) in 1986 - Intl. debut: Qualification 

Match for the European Championships (Novi 

Sad, Yugoslavia) in 1995 - Hobby: Music, 

Playing guitar - Lang.: Serbian, English, 

German - Favourites: Book: Domestic, 

Food: Domestic, Movie: Titanic, Music: U-2, 


13 Dokic 14 Miljkovic 15 Starovic 

Name: Sasa Starovic 

Age: 19 

Born in: Trebinje 


Club debut: OK Gacko (Gacko) in 2002 - 

Intl. debut: European Championship (2006) 

in 2006 - Hobby: Watching movies - Lang.: 

English - Favourites: Book: Ivo Andric: 

Na Drini cuprija, Food: Macaroni, Movie: 

Anaconda, Music: Everything, Other sports: 

Tennis, Basketball 

112

Lang.: English 

16 Petric 

17 Radic 

Name: Nemanja Petric 

Name: Dejan Radic 

Age: 21 Age: 23 

Born in: Pozarevac 

Born in: Bijeljina 



Club debut: OK Drina (Zvornik, SCG) in 

1999 - Intl. debut: Mediterranean Games, 

Almeria (ESP) in 2005 - Lang.: Serbian, 

English - Favourites: Book: Ivo Andric: Na 

Drini cuprija, Food: Beans, Movie: Gladiator, 


Igor Kolakovic (MNE) 

Head Coach 

18 Podrascanin 

19 Rosic 

Name: Marko Podrascanin 

Age: 20 

Born in: Novi Sad 


Club debut: Vojvodina Novolin N. Sad 

(SCG) in 2000 - Intl. debut: Balkan Games 

(Belgrade, SCG) in 2004 - Lang.: English, 

German - Favourites: Book: History of Egypt 

and Greece, Food: Pizza, Sarma, Movie: Troy, 

Maratonci trce pocasni krug, Music: Britney 

Spears, Other sports: Football, Basketball, 

Karate 

Olympic Games 

2004 ** 5 

2000 * 1 

1996 * 3 

1980 * 6 


2001 * 3 

* Yugoslavia ** Serbia & Montenegro 


2006 ** 4 

2002 * 4 

1998 * 2 

1970 * 10 

1966 * 8 

1962 * 8 

1956 * 10 

World Cup 

2003 ** 3 

1965 * 8 

Name: Nikola Rosic 

Age: 24 

Born in: Belgrade 


Club debut: OK Partizan (Belgrade, SCG) in 

1995 - Intl. debut: Regional Games, Balkan 

Junior Championshps (Ploiesti, ROM) in 2000 

- Hobby: Cars - Lang.: English, French - 

Favourites: Book: Tell me your dreams, 

Food: Fish, Movie: Zulender, Other sports: 

Formula 1 / Michael Schumacher 


World League 

2007 9 

2006 ** 5 

2005 ** 2 

2004 ** 3 

2003 ** 2 

2002 * 3 

2001 * 4 

2000 * 4 

1998 * 5 

1997 * 7 


2007 3 1979 * 3 

2005 ** 3 1977 * 7 

2003 ** 4 1975 * 3 

2001 * 1 1971 * 11 

1999 * 3 1967 * 7 

1997 * 2 1963 * 7 

1995 * 3 1958 * 7 

1991 * 6 1955 * 5 

1989 * 8 1951 * 5 

1987 * 8 

1985 * 11 

1981 * 10 

Igor Kolakovic replaced Ljuba Travica on the 

bench of the “Blue Team” just before the 2006 

World Championships, after assisting him for 

three years. 

Kolakovic was born on June 4, 1965, in Podgorica, 

where he actually started his playing and 

coaching career. He played for VC “Buducnost” of 

Podgorica and “Partizan” of Belgrade from 1979 

until 1997, when he became Head Coach of the 

Podgorica Team. He played as a setter, and in 

1997 was one of the most experienced players 

in the team. After that, as VC “Buducnost” was 

then looking for a coach, Kolakovic swapped the 

court for the bench. 

From his playing career, he remembers most 

fondly the two double crowns (championship 

and cup) he won with VC “Partizan”, “because 

of the way we lived, worked, played, and had 

fun.” When speaking of his coaching career, he 

reminisces over the first of the two titles won on 

the bench with VC “Buducnost.” 

“The quality of this team is that they all respond 

when they are called to take part in National 

Team events. It is obvious that in other sports 

the cult of ‘playing for the National Team’ 

slowly disappears. To this moment, none of the 

Volleyball players ever refused to play for the 

National Team, so that, together with the players’ 

and everyone else’s passion for winning all these 

trophies, seems to be the greatest quality of the 

‘Blue Team,’” said Kolakovic. 

The debut on the bench of the same “Blue Team” 

for Kolakovic was in the World Championships in 

Japan, he continued with his work in 2007, and is 

leading the “Blue Boys” in 2008 at the Olympics. 

“The challenge is enormous and the aims 

are always the highest possible when we are 

speaking of the National Team of Serbia. It 

would be absolutely extraordinary if we entered 

the contest for a medal in the next competition,” 

said Kolakovic. 

Team Roster 


1 Kovacevic Nikola Kovacevic 14/02/1983 193 78 350 340 38 38 RPA Perugia (ITA) 

2 Bojovic Dejan Bojovic 03/04/1983 198 86 360 345 11 71 82 Gabeca Montichiari (ITA) 

3 Bjelica Novica Bjelica 09/02/1983 202 97 343 324 11 90 101 Copra Piacenza (ITA) 

4 Janic Bojan Janic 11/03/1982 198 83 345 322 118 118 Marmi Lanza Verona (ITA) 

5 Petkovic Vlado Petkovic 06/01/1983 198 97 325 318 53 53 Buducnost PB Podgorica (MNE) 

6 Cupkovic Konstantin Cupkovic 02/01/1987 202 84 337 315 7 23 30 Vojvodina Novolin N. Sad (SRB) 

7 Stankovic Dragan Stankovic 18/10/1985 205 80 343 333 89 89 Crvena Zvezda Beograd (SRB) 

8 Samardzic Marko Samardzic L 22/02/1983 190 82 326 310 11 74 85 Volley Tours (FRA) 

9 Grbic Nikola Grbic N. C 06/09/1973 194 91 346 320 22 32 218 272 Itas Diatec Trentino (ITA) 

10 Nikic Milos Nikic 31/03/1986 194 79 350 330 11 50 61 Sparkling Milano (ITA) 

11 Ilic Ivan Ilic M. Ivan 19/12/1976 194 85 330 315 6 61 67 Asseco Resovia (POL) 

12 Geric Andrija Geric 24/01/1977 203 101 350 323 22 32 196 250 Lube Banca Macerata (ITA) 

13 Dokic Tomislav Dokic 27/02/1986 204 91 355 330 7 61 68 Crvena Zvezda Beograd (SRB) 

14 Miljkovic Ivan Miljkovic 13/09/1979 206 88 354 333 14 32 154 200 M. Roma (ITA) 

15 Starovic Sasa Starovic 19/10/1988 207 89 335 321 23 23 Buducnost PB Podgorica (MNE) 

16 Petric Nemanja Petric 28/07/1987 202 86 333 320 10 10 Buducnost PB Podgorica (MNE) 

17 Radic Dejan Radic 06/11/1984 200 95 360 340 20 20 Buducnost PB Podgorica (MNE) 

18 Podrascanin Marko Podrascanin 29/08/1987 204 92 343 326 18 61 79 Famigliulo Corigliano (ITA) 

19 Rosic Nikola Rosic L 05/08/1984 192 85 328 315 7 52 59 Moerser SC Berlin (GER) 

113

Pool A 

www.fivb.org 

USA 

Over the past decade, U.S. Men’s Volleyball team has been looking to 

return to the greatness it experienced in the 1980s and ’90s when it 

won two Olympic gold medals (1984 and ’88) and a bronze (1992) as 

well as an FIVB World Cup (1985) and World Championship (1986). 

In 2006, the team moved its headquarters from the U.S. Olympic 

Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., to the American Sports 

Center in Anaheim, Calif. While the move did not pay dividends 

immediately – the team finished 10th at both the 2006 World League 

and World Championship – things improved greatly in 2007. 

Now ranked third in the world following a third-place finish at the 2007 

World League and a fourth-place at the 2007 World Cup, the U.S. Men 

could be on the verge of greatness, thanks to a roster of veterans and 

younger players led by Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon. 

USA made it to the final round of the World League (in Katowice, 

Poland) last year for the first time since 2000 and they defeated 

hometown favourite Poland, 3-1 for a third-place finish. 

Third place is the best World League finish for the United States since 

1992, when it also placed third. U.S. libero Rich Lambourne was 

named Best Libero for the 2007 World League. 

Team USA started brilliantly at the 2007 World Cup by defeating Brazil 

in three sets. But that victory was followed by two straight losses 

to the lower-ranked Puerto Rico and Spain. They recovered in the 

subsequent matches but a five-set loss to Russia in their final match 

meant they missed out on the available Olympic spots. 

A few weeks later, the U.S. Team made sure of a place in Beijing in 

the NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualifier in Caguas, Puerto 

Rico. The U.S. Men won the tournament with a 5-0 record and without 

dropping a set, downing Puerto Rico in the Final. 

Four members of the U.S. Men’s National Team were honored for 

their play. Rich Lambourne was named best libero and best receiver. 

Rooney won best spiker. Millar was named top blocker and Stanley 

took best server. 

Washington ● 

Area - 9,826,630 sq km 


Capital - Washington 

114



Manager - Browning, Robert 10.08 12:30 CAS USA-VEN 

Head coach - McCutcheon, Hugh 12.08 12:30 CAS USA-ITA 

Assistant coach - Larsen, Ronald 14.08 22:00 CAS BUL-USA 

Doctor - Koutures, Chris 16.08 10:00 TIG USA-CHN 

Trainer/Therapist - Speraw, John 18.08 22:00 CAS JPN-USA 

115

Pool A 

USA 


2 0 1 

1 Ball 

Name: Lloy Ball 

Age: 36 

Born in: Indiana, USA 


Club debut: in 1984 - Intl. debut: in 1994 

- Hobby: Golf, music, snowboarding - Lang.: 

English - Favourites: Book: Women, Food: 

Cottage cheese, Movie: Animal House, Music: 

Heavy Metal, Other sports: Golf 

2 Rooney 

3 

Patak 

Name: Sean Rooney 

Name: Evan Patak 

Age: 25 Age: 24 

Born in: Illinois, USA 

Born in: Santa Monica/CA, USA 




Hobby: Wakeboarding, volleyball - Lang.: 

English - Favourites: Book: Fear and 

Loathing in Las Vegas, Food: Steak, Movie: 

Dumb and Dumber; Caddy Shack, Music: 

Anticon and Living Legends, Other sports: 

Anna Kournikova 

4 Lee 

Name: David Lee 

Age: 26 

Born in: California, USA 


Hobby: Model trains and airplanes, stamps - 

Lang.: English - Favourites: Book: Haunted 

Mesa, Food: Filet mignon and lobster, Movie: 

Zoolander, Music: King Tubby 

7 Jablonsky 

Hobby: Guitar, beach, surfing - Lang.: 

English - Favourites: Book: Lord of the 

Rings, Food: Italian, Movie: Lord of the Rings, 

Music: Classic Rock, Other sports: Hockey, 

volleyball 

5 Lambourne 

6 Eatherton 

Name: Richard Lambourne 

Name: Phillip Eatherton 

Age: 33 Age: 34 

Born in: Kentucky, USA 


Club debut: Seaside (San Diego, California) 

in 1990 - Intl. debut: in 2000 - Hobby: Beach 

volleyball, golf, tennis, body surfing - Lang.: English 

- Favourites: Book: Rising Sun, The Green Mile, 

DaVinci Code, Angels & Demons, Food: Burritos, 

Movie: Good Will Hunting, Snatch, Jurassic Park, 

Music: Hip Hop and Rhythm and Blues, Musicals, 

Other sports: Golf, Basketball, Tennis, Football 

8 Priddy 

9 Millar 

Club debut: Lake Mary High School in 1999 

- Hobby: Surfing, Beach Volleyball, Music 

(Guitar) - Lang.: English - Favourites: Book: 

Holy Bible, Food: Mexican, Movie: Dumb and 

Dumber, Other sports: Surfing 

Born in: Kirkwood, Missouri 


Club debut: Lafayette High School in 1990 

- Intl. debut: in 1995 - Hobby: Traveling, 

spending time with family and friends - 

Lang.: English - Favourites: Book: Into Thin 

Air, Food: Pizza, Movie: Point Break, Music: 

Alternative, pop, country, Other sports: Super 

Dodge Ball, World’s Strongest Man 

Name: Jayson Jablonsky Name: William Priddy Name: Ryan Millar 

Age: 23 Age: 30 Age: 30 

Born in: California, USA Born in: Virgina, USA Born in: California, USA 

Position: Universal Position: Wing spiker Position: Middle blocker 

Club debut: Highland High School in 1989 - 

Intl. debut: in 1999 - Hobby: Snowboarding, 

golfing - Lang.: English - Favourites: Book: 

Of Mice and Men, Food: Chicken enchiladas, 

Movie: Braveheart, Music: Alternative, Other 

sports: American football, basketball 

10 Salmon 

Name: Riley Salmon 

Age: 32 

Born in: Texas, USA 


Hobby: Golfing - Lang.: English - Favourites: 

Book: Prey, Food: Mexican, Movie: Pulp 

Fiction, Music: Jack Johnson, Other sports: 

Basketball, Golf 

11 Billings 

12 Hoff 

Name: Brook Billings 

Age: 28 



Club debut: East Beach (Santa Barbara, 

CA USA) in 1994 - Intl. debut: in 2002 - 

Hobby: Basketball, music - Lang.: English - 

Favourites: Book: Anything by John Wooden, 

Food: Mexican, Movie: Super Troopers, Music: 

Jack Johnson 

Name: Thomas Hoff 

Age: 35 

Born in: Illinois, USA 


Club debut: Chicago, Illinois in 1980 - Intl. 

debut: in 1997 - Hobby: Engineering topics, 

fish, hiking, mountain biking - Lang.: English 

- Favourites: Book: Clive Cussler, Food: 

Sandy’s Tacos, Movie: Man in the Iron Mask, 

Music: Rock, Other sports: Beach volleyball, 

baseball 

13 Stanley 14 Hansen 15 Gardner 

Name: Clayton Stanley 

Age: 30 

Born in: Hawaii, USA 


Club debut: Outrigger (Honolulu, Hawaii) in 

1995 - Intl. debut: World University Games/ 

Pan American Games (Spain/Winnipeg, 

Canada) in 1999 - Hobby: Surfing - Lang.: 

English - Favourites: Food: Hawaiian, Movie: 

Pulp Fiction, Music: Everything but country 

Name: Kevin Hansen 

Name: Gabriel Gardner 

Age: 26 

Age: 32 





Lang.: English Club debut: Palisades High School in 1991 

- Intl. debut: in 1999 - Hobby: Surfing, 

playing guitar, stock market - Lang.: English 

- Favourites: Book: Catcher in the Rye, 

Food: Greek, Movie: Good Will Hunting, A 

Beautiful Mind, Music: Jim Morrison, Other 

sports: Kobe Bryant/Basketball 

116

16 Taliaferro 

Club debut: Los Angeles Athletic Club (Laguna 

Beach, California) in 1989 - Intl. debut: in 

1999 - Lang.: English - Favourites: Other 

sports: Beach volleyball, surfing 


17 Thomas 

Name: Richard Brandon Taliaferro 

Name: Delano Thomas 

Age: 30 Age: 25 


Born in: Sacramento, USA 



Hugh McCutcheon (NZL) 

Head Coach 

18 Touzinsky 

19 Reft 

Name: Scott Touzinsky 

Age: 26 

Born in: Missouri, USA 


Hobby: Baseball games, watching sports, 

golfing - Lang.: English - Favourites: Food: 

Sushi, Movie: Gone in 60 Seconds, Music: 

Akon, Other sports: Michael Jordan 

Olympic Games 

2004 4 

2000 11 

1996 9 

1992 3 

1988 1 

1984 1 

1968 7 

1964 9 


2005 2 

1993 5 


2006 10 1966 11 

2002 9 1960 7 

1998 9 1956 6 

1994 3 

1990 13 

1986 1 

1982 13 

1978 19 

1974 14 

1970 18 

World Cup 

2007 4 

2003 4 

1999 4 

1995 4 

1991 3 

1989 4 

1985 1 

1977 10 

Name: Alfredo Reft 

Age: 25 





World League 

2007 3 

2006 10 

2001 9 

2000 6 

1995 10 

1994 12 

1993 9 

1992 3 

1991 6 

1990 7 


2007 1 1987 2 

2005 1 1985 1 

2003 1 1983 1 

2001 2 1981 2 

1999 1 1979 5 

1997 2 1977 5 

1995 2 1975 3 

1993 2 1973 1 

1991 2 1971 2 

1989 3 1969 3 

U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team Head Coach 

Hugh McCutcheon, 38, a native of Christchurch, 

New Zealand, has guided his team to a No. 3 

world ranking and qualification for the Olympics. 

However, it has taken a little longer than he hoped. 

A fourth-place finish at the FIVB World Cup (where 

the top three teams qualified for the Olympics) at 

the end of 2007 meant the team had to travel 

to Caguas, Puerto Rico, for the NORCECA Men’s 

Continental Olympic Qualifying Championship on 

Jan. 6-11. The U.S. Men won five straight matches 

without dropping a set to win the tournament and 

qualify for the Olympic Games. 

“I feel relieved and excited,” McCutcheon said. “The 

team rose to the occasion and we executed in all 

the aspects of the game. So many guys performed 

at their highest level and with a lot of energy.” 

McCutcheon was selected to become the new head 

coach of the U.S. team on Feb 3, 2005. A former 

Brigham Young University (BYU) assistant coach, 

he joined USA Volleyball as a full-time assistant 

coach for the men’s national team program in 

April 2003. McCutcheon was no stranger to the 

organization. In the summers of 2001 and 2002, 

respectively, he served as a volunteer assistant 

coach for the men’s national team, helping out 

during the 2001 World League, the 2002 World 

Championships and on five international tours. 

After leaving BYU, McCutcheon was the head 

coach of the Vienna Hotvolleys in Austria for two 

seasons. In his first season there, the Hotvolleys 

won the 2001-02 Inter-Liga, Austrian Cup and 

Austrian League championships, and he had 

the opportunity to work with USA national team 

players Rich Lambourne, Dave McKienzie, Reid 

Priddy and Brandon Taliaferro. 

McCutcheon played on the New Zealand junior 

and senior national teams from 1988-90 before 

coming to the United States. He was also a 

member of New Zealand’s national team in 1996 

and represented his country on the FIVB Beach 

Volleyball World Tour in 1997. 

Team Roster 


1 Ball Lloy Ball 17/02/1972 203 95 351 316 18 25 334 377 Sport Club Dinamo 

2 Rooney Sean Rooney 13/11/1982 206 100 354 336 41 41 Dinamo-Yantar Kalingrad 

3 Patak Evan Patak 23/06/1984 201 113 363 330 Aris Thessalonica 

4 Lee David Lee 08/03/1982 203 105 350 325 78 78 Halk Bankasi Spor Kulubu 

5 Lambourne Richard Lambourne L 06/05/1975 190 90 324 312 11 137 148 PZU AZS Olsztyn 

6 Eatherton Phillip Eatherton 02/01/1974 206 101 356 335 8 23 168 199 AZS Czestochowa 

7 Jablonsky Jayson Jablonsky 23/07/1985 198 89 343 316 5 5 UC Irvine 

8 Priddy William Priddy 01/10/1977 196 89 353 330 8 17 131 156 Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 

9 Millar Ryan Millar 22/01/1978 204 98 354 326 13 17 199 229 Sparkling Milano 

10 Salmon Riley Salmon 02/07/1976 197 89 345 331 8 17 146 171 Top Volley SRL 

11 Billings Brook Billings 30/04/1980 196 95 351 331 8 6 120 134 AZS Czestochowa 

12 Hoff Thomas Hoff C 09/06/1973 198 94 353 333 13 23 243 279 Fakel New Urengoy 

13 Stanley Clayton Stanley 20/01/1978 205 104 357 332 8 17 124 149 Sport Club Dinamo 

14 Hansen Kevin Hansen 19/03/1982 196 93 349 330 71 71 Poitiers 

15 Gardner Gabriel Gardner 18/03/1976 209 103 353 335 8 11 125 144 Sparkling Milano 

16 Taliaferro Richard Brandon Taliaferro 28/09/1977 196 100 342 325 11 31 42 ACH Volley 

17 Thomas Delano Thomas 26/01/1983 201 95 366 339 13 13 ACH Volley 

18 Touzinsky Scott Touzinsky 22/04/1982 198 86 344 330 5 5 ACH Volley 

19 Reft Alfredo Reft L 15/12/1982 175 80 319 309 Budva 

117

Pool A 

www.fivb.org 

Venezuela 

Venezuela’s Men have been hovering among the world’s top 10 to 20 

teams in the FIVB rankings since 2000. 

The current team is made up of players who claimed third place at the 

Junior World Championships, second place at the Youth Championships 

and first and second place at the Youth, Junior and Senior South 

American Championships. 

They also have experience from their time at Clubs in overseas 

National Leagues. 

Venezuela has hosted FIVB World League matches in 2001, 2002, 

2003, 2005, with the latter edition seeing their best performance. 

A notable result recently was when Venezuela beat Brazil and Cuba on 

their way to becoming 2003 Pan American Games Champions. 

The team first took part in the FIVB World Cup in 2003 when they 

finished in eighth place with four wins against seven losses. 

In the last two FIVB World Championships, they have finished in joint- 

17th place. 

Venezuela won the right to participate for the first time in the Olympics 

by winning the South American Olympic Qualification Tournament in 

January in Formosa, Argentina, to advance to Beijing. 

They beat Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay in straight sets before facing 

hosts Argentina in the final match of the round-robin event. In an epic 

match, Venezuela overcame over their opponents 22-25, 25-23, 25- 

20, 25-16 to clinch their berth in Beijing. 

It was sweet revenge for the Venezuelans, who missed out on a place 

at the Athens Games when Argentina claimed first place at the Olympic 

Qualification Tournament in Venezuela. 

The Venezuelans faced a tough group in the 2008 World League, up 

against France, Serbia and Brazil but have been cheered on by crowds 

of up to 12,000 for their home matches in Caracas. The popularity of 

Volleyball in the country is growing all the time and all the fans’ eyes 

will be on their heroes in Beijing, Venezuelans hoping they can spring 

a surprise on their first appearance in the event. 

Area - 916,445 sq km 


Capital - Caracas 

● 

Caracas 

118



Manager - Nelson Dellimore 10.08 12:30 CAS USA-VEN 

Head coach - Ricardo Navajas 12.08 20:00 CAS VEN-CHN 

Assistant coach - Carlos Augusto Oliveira De Almeida 14.08 10:00 TIG ITA-VEN 

Doctor - Jorge Ramos 16.08 22:00 CAS VEN-JPN 

Trainer/Therapist - Leonardo Ojeda 18.08 10:00 TIG BUL-VEN 

119

Pool A 


0 0 0 

Venezuela 

1 Ismel 

Name: Ismel Ramos 

Age: 23 

Born in: - 


2 Deivi 

3 

Born in: Yaracuy, Venezuela 


Club debut: Yaracuy (San Felipe, Venezuela) 


Championship (Santiago, Chile) in 2002 - 

Lang.: Spanish 

Andy 

Name: Deivi Yustiz 

Name: Andy Rojas 

Age: 23 Age: 30 

Born in: Caracas 


Club debut: Miranda (Venezuela) in 1992 - 

Intl. debut: South American Championship 

(Caracas, Venezuela) in 1994 - Lang.: ESP - 

Favourites: Book: Literature, Food: Carnes, 

Movie: Action, Music: Salsa, Other sports: 

Basketball 

4 Joel 

Name: Joel Silva 

Age: 22 

Born in: - 


5 Rodman 

6 Carlos 

Name: Rodman Valera 

Name: Carlos Luna 

Age: 26 Age: 27 





(Asuncion, Paraguay) in 1997 - Hobby: 

Beach - Lang.: ESP - Favourites: Food: 

Pasta, Movie: Action, Music: Salsa, Other 


Born in: Zulia 


Club debut: Zulia (Venezuela) in 1996 - 

Intl. debut: World Championship (El Cairo, 

Egypt) in 1999 - Hobby: Music - Lang.: ESP 

- Favourites: Book: Historica, Food: Carnes, 

Movie: Action, Music: Salsa, Other sports: 

Baseball 

7 Luis 

8 Siso 

9 Soteldo 

Name: Luis Diaz Name: Pedro Siso Name: Francisco Soteldo 

Age: 24 Age: 21 Age: 22 

Born in: Aragua Born in: - Born in: Lara 

Position: Universal Position: Wing spiker Position: Setter 

Club debut: Aragua (Venezuela) in 1999 - 

Intl. debut: South American Champ (Ven) 

in 2000 - Hobby: Music - Lang.: ESP - 

Favourites: Food: Pabellon, Movie: Action, 

Music: Salsa, Other sports: Baseball 

Club debut: Portuguesa 

Club debut: Lara (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) 


Championship (Minas Gerais, Brasil) in 2002 

- Lang.: Spanish 

10 Ronald 

Name: Ronald Mendez 

Age: 25 

Born in: Bolivar 


Club debut: Bolivar (Venezuela) in 1997 - 

Intl. debut: World Champ (Saudi Arabia) 

in 1999 - Hobby: Beach - Lang.: ESP - 

Favourites: Food: Sopas, Movie: Suspenso, 

Music: Salsa, Other sports: Basketball 

11 Harry 12 Carlos A. 

Name: Ernardo Gomez 

Age: 26 

Born in: Bolivar 


Club debut: Bolivar (Venezuela) in 1994 - 

Intl. debut: South Amerrican Champ (Sao 

Paulo, Brasil) in 1995 - Hobby: Music - 

Lang.: Spanish - Favourites: Book: Culture, 

Food: Tolas, Movie: Action, Music: Vallenatos, 


Name: Carlos Tejeda 

Age: 28 



Club debut: Aragua (Venezuela) in 1998 - 


(Cali, Colombia) in 1999 - Lang.: ESP - 

Favourites: Food: Criollia, Movie: Action, 

Music: Rap, Other sports: Basketball 

13 Ivan 14 Thomas 15 Gustavo 

Name: Ivan Marquez 

Age: 26 



Club debut: Distrito Capital (Caracas, 

Venezuela) in 1999 - Intl. debut: World 

Championship (Poland) in 2001 - Lang.: 

Spanish 

Name: Thomas Ereu 

Age: 28 

Born in: Portuguesa 




(Sao Paulo, Brasil) in 1995 - Hobby: Beach 

- Lang.: Spanish - Favourites: Food: Criolla, 

Movie: Action, Music: Rap, Other sports: 

Baseball 

Name: Gustavo Valderrama 

Age: 31 

Born in: Maracaibo 


Club debut: Zulia (Venezuela) in 1992 - Intl. 

debut: South American Champ (Caracas, 

Ven) in 1994 - Hobby: Beach - Lang.: ESP - 

Favourites: Book: Literature, Food: Carnes, 

Movie: Action, Music: Gailas, Other sports: 

Basketball 

120

16 Silva 

Club debut: D.F. (Venezuela) in 1995 - 

Hobby: Music - Lang.: ESP - Favourites: 

Food: Junk food, Movie: Action, Music: Salsa, 

Other sports: Baseball 

17 Juan C. 

Name: Jorge Silva 

Name: Juan Carlos Blanco 

Age: 28 Age: 27 


Born in: Guatine 

Position: - 


Club debut: Miranda (Venezuela) in 1995 

- Intl. debut: in 1996 - Hobby: Beach 

- Lang.: ESP - Favourites: Food: Pasta, 

Movie: Action, Music: Changa 

Ricardo Navajas (BRA) 

Head Coach 

18 Fredy 

Name: Fredy Cedeno 

Age: 26 



Club debut: Aragua (Maracay, Venezuela) in 

1999 - Intl. debut: South American Champ 

(Cabimas, Ven) in 2000 - Lang.: Spanish 

Ricardo Navajas, born September 27, 1958, 

took over as Venezuela National Team Head 

Coach in 2007. 

The job is the culmination of 17 years as a 

coach in the game and a long way from when 

he started as Head Coach for the Suzano 

Junior Club in 1990 before becoming Head 

Coach of the main Suzano Club. 


He has picked up a lot of titles along the way. 

He was South American Champion in 1995, 

Brazilian Champion in 1992, 1993, and 1996 

and eight-time champion in the Paulista 

League in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 

1998, 1999 and 2002. 

Olympic Games 



2006 17 

2002 17 

1990 16 

1986 16 

1982 19 

1978 21 

1974 21 

1970 23 

1960 10 

World Cup 

2003 8 

World League 

2005 7 

2003 13 

2002 13 

2001 13 


2007 3 1983 4 

2005 3 1981 4 

2003 2 1979 2 

2001 3 1977 2 

1999 3 1975 2 

1997 2 1973 3 

1995 3 1969 2 

1993 4 1967 2 

1991 3 1964 2 

1989 3 1962 3 

1987 3 

1985 2 

He has got off to a flyer as Head Coach of 

Venezuela. He led them to first place in the 

Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament 

that guaranteed the South Americans a place 

at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. 

Before that, he led the team to fourth at the 

Pan Americans Games and third at the South 

American Championships in 2007. 

Before taking over the National Team he 

was technical coordinator for SPFC/Taubaté, 

while in 2005 he was with E.C. ULBRA, where 

they were Regional Games Champion, Open 

Games Champion, claimed second at the 

Gaucho Region Games, third in the Paulista 

Championship and fourth in the Brazilian 

Championship. 

Team Roster 


1 Ramos Ismel Ismel 18/04/1985 195 78 341 336 2 2 Raision Loimu 

2 Yustiz Deivi Deivi 15/06/1985 198 76 354 345 2 1 3 Yaracuy 

3 Rojas Andy Andy C 02/10/1977 197 95 315 318 7 28 35 Ermoli Castelnuovo 

4 Silva Joel Joel L 14/09/1985 188 78 334 329 1 1 Apure 

5 Valera Rodman Rodman 20/04/1982 188 82 337 332 4 21 25 Compoktuna 

6 Luna Carlos Carlos 25/01/1981 194 85 339 331 5 22 27 Toyoda 

7 Diaz Luis Luis 20/08/1983 204 92 349 342 1 12 13 Tonno Callipo (ITA) 

8 Siso Pedro Siso 05/01/1987 195 86 338 334 Karava 

9 Soteldo Francisco Soteldo 23/03/1986 200 76 347 341 2 2 4 Lara 

10 Mendez Ronald Ronald 26/10/1982 203 84 357 352 3 20 23 Bolivar 

11 Gomez Ernardo Harry 30/07/1982 195 90 355 350 8 39 47 Toyoda Gosei 

12 Tejeda Carlos Carlos A. 29/07/1980 198 90 340 315 4 20 24 Almeria 

13 Marquez Ivan Ivan 04/10/1981 205 85 339 333 3 5 8 Verening 

14 Ereu Thomas Thomas 25/10/1979 194 85 352 345 2 15 17 Taviano 

15 Valderrama Gustavo Gustavo L 31/07/1977 192 80 323 323 4 15 19 Zulia 

16 Silva Jorge Silva 22/04/1980 186 80 355 331 2 20 22 Regatas San Nicolas 

17 Blanco Juan Carlos Juan C. 27/07/1981 195 83 341 336 3 24 27 Karava 

18 Cedeno Fredy Fredy 10/09/1981 205 95 353 348 3 15 18 Arona Tenerife 

121

www.fivb.org 

Follow the Stars 

Giba (BRA) 

Gilberto Amauri Godoy Filho, or “Giba,” is 

probably the star on the Volleyball world 

stage at this moment. A 192-cm wingspiker, 

Giba is the epitome of the modern 

player. He’s a very good receiver, has 

ultra-fast attack, perfect spiking skills 

from the back row and an impressive jump 

that compensates for his unremarkable 

height. 

Giba has been the jewel in the crown 

of the Brazilian team over the past few 

years. He was crowned Best Player at the 

2004 Athens Games when Brazil won gold, 

at the 2006 FIVB World League (gold for 

Brazil), 2006 FIVB World Championship 

(gold for Brazil) and 2007 FIVB World Cup 

(gold for Brazil). 

Giba played his Club Volleyball in Brazil 

until 2001. Then he moved to Italy to 

play six seasons in Serie A with Ferrara 

and Cuneo. Starting from the 2007-2008 

season, he signed a three-year contract 

with Iskra Odintsovo of Russia. 

Giba, born in 1976, is married to former 

Romanian Volleyball National Team player 

Cristina Pirv. 

Matey Kaziyski (BUL) 

Matey Kaziyski is a spiker of devastating 

talent for his country and an extremely 

popular world athlete who was part of 

the Bulgaria teams that won the bronze 

medal at the 2007 FIVB World Cup, which 

booked Bulgaria’s ticket for the Summer 

Games, and bronze at the 2006 FIVB 

World Championships. 

The miraculous thing about Kaziyski is 

that he still just 23 and has the potential 

to become one of the all-time greats. 

It helps that Kaziyski, a fluent English 

speaker who plays his Club Volleyball 

for Italian team Itas Diatec Trentino, has 

Volleyball in his blood. Both his mother 

and father are former Bulgarian National 

Team players and he started young in the 

sport at 9 years of age after dabbling in 

basketball, football, judo, archery and 

horse riding. 

He was about 14 when first called into the 

Bulgarian Junior National Team, the same 

year he started to train for the Slavia Sofia 

Men’s Team. He started as a setter, then 

middle-blocker and opposite before settling 

on reception/attacker. 

Alberto Cisolla (ITA) 

The appeal of Italy captain Alberto Cisolla 

stretches far and wide. He is immensely 

popular in Japan after a television crew 

made a show called “One Day with 

Cisolla” ahead of the 2006 FIVB World 

Championship. Since then, he has been 

showered with gifts – for him and his dog 

Gigi – and Volleyball fans scream out his 

name during matches in the Land of the 

Rising Sun. 

His good looks help with the female 

fanbase but he is also a brilliant talent. 

The 30-year-old Sisley Treviso player has 

been with the national team since 2001 and 

a regular in the starting six since 2005. 

Cisolla admits he fell into the sport: “I 

went to watch my brother play for Sisley 

(Treviso). I liked it, a new sport, and I liked 

the little sports centre where we practised. 

I tried to play, liked it so much and 

continued. Fortunately I became taller.” 

Away from Volleyball, Cisolla is a keen 

billiards player although his sporting hero 

is from the world of basketball: Michael 

Jordan. 

122

Mariusz Wlazly (POL) 

Mariusz Wlazly, whose nickname is 

“Szampon” (“Shampoo”) after his friends 

egged him on to drink some when he was 

an 18-year-old at a sports camp with WKS 

Wielun Club, started playing Volleyball at 

12. 

The 25-year-old developed his phenomenal 

jumping ability by mountain walking while 

purposely walking on his tip toes to make 

his calf muscles stronger. He now jumps 

like no-one else in Polish Volleyball and the 

fans joke he is Polish-Cuban, in reference 

to some of the great Cuban jumpers. 

By 2003 he was already a great talent, but 

during the World Junior Championships in 

Tehran, where Poland took the gold medal, 

he wasn’t first choice. Things have changed 

since then and he has blossomed into one 

of the world’s most fearsome attacking 

threats. 

Every year Wlazly has offers to join foreign 

Clubs (especially from Italy and Russia). 

His contract with Skra Belchatow finishes 

in 2010. His wife Paulina is a receiver 

in the Women’s Volleyball team of Skra 

Belchatow. 

Semen Poltavskiy (RUS) 

Wing-spiker Semen Poltavskiy is one 

of the main dangermen of the Russia 

National Team, deadly with the spike and 

ferocious in the serve. That combination 

means the shaven-headed Poltavskiy is 

usually hovering at the top of the scoring 

charts in the international tournaments in 

which he plays. 

Poltavskiy, who plays his Club Volleyball 

for Dinamo Moscow, earned his first cap 

for the National team in 2002 and has 

been pretty much irreplaceable ever since. 

In 2003, he won the bronze medal at the 

European Championships and silver in the 

same tournament in 2005. 

In 2006, Poltavskiy, who barely shows 

a flicker of emotion on court, guided the 

Russians to bronze in the FIVB World 

League. He was also third in the Best Server 

category at the FIVB World Championships 

in Japan. The following year Poltavskiy was 

Best Server at the FIVB World Cup in Japan 

as the Russians finished in second place. 

The 202-cm Poltavskiy led Russia to 

the Under-19 and Under-21 World 

Championships titles in 1999. 

Ivan Miljkovic (SRB) 

One is hard pushed to 

find a deadlier spiker 

than Olympic Champion 

Ivan Miljkovic. Since 

1998, the opposite hitter 

has been the backbone 

of Yugoslavia’s, Serbia 

and Montenegro’s and 

now Serbia’s attacking 

plays. He has the knack to always be on 

hand to deliver a hammer blow capable of 

humbling the opposition. 

Miljkovic, 29, has played in the Italian 

League since the early 2000s. He won the 

Champions League in 2001, the Italian 

Cup in 2001 and 2003 and the CEV Cup 

in 2001, 2005 and 2006 with team Lube 

Banca Macerata. He played last year for M. 

Roma Volley in Italy. 

Miljkovic began playing as a professional 

for Partizan Belgrade in 1997 and made his 

National Team debut for Yugoslavia a year 

later. He was then part of the Yugoslavia 

team that won the Olympic gold medal in 

Sydney. In that tournament, he finished as 

third-highest points scorer behind Italy’s 

Andrea Sartoretti and Argentina’s Marcos 

Milinkovic 

He has won the Best Scorer award in the FIVB 

World League in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005. 

123

www.fivb.org 

Men’s Competition 

Schedule 

All matches played in the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium and in the Capital Indoor Stadium 


*CAS: Capital Indoor Stadium 

TIG: Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium 

Pool A 

Final Ranking 

Venue* Result Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 

2 ITA-JPN 10 Aug 12:00 TIG 

3 USA-VEN 10 Aug 12:30 CAS 

5 BUL-CHN 10 Aug 20:00 CAS 

9 USA-ITA 12 Aug 12:30 CAS 

11 VEN-CHN 12 Aug 20:00 CAS 

12 JPN-BUL 12 Aug 22:00 CAS 

13 ITA-VEN 14 Aug 10:00 TIG 

17 CHN-JPN 14 Aug 20:00 CAS 

18 BUL-USA 14 Aug 22:00 CAS 

19 USA-CHN 16 Aug 10:00 TIG 

22 ITA-BUL 16 Aug 14:30 CAS 

24 VEN-JPN 16 Aug 22:00 CAS 

25 BUL-VEN 18 Aug 10:00 TIG 

29 CHN-ITA 18 Aug 20:00 CAS 

30 JPN-USA 18 Aug 22:00 CAS 

1 A1 

2 A2 

3 A3 

4 A4 

5 

6 

*CAS: Capital Indoor Stadium 

TIG: Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium 

Pool B 

Final Ranking 

Venue* Result Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 

1 SRB-RUS 10 Aug 10:00 TIG 

4 BRA-EGY 10 Aug 14:30 CAS 

6 POL-GER 10 Aug 22:00 CAS 

7 RUS-GER 12 Aug 10:00 TIG 

8 EGY-POL 12 Aug 12:00 TIG 

10 SRB-BRA 12 Aug 14:30 CAS 

14 GER-EGY 14 Aug 12:00 TIG 

15 BRA-RUS 14 Aug 12:30 CAS 

16 POL-SRB 14 Aug 14:30 CAS 

20 RUS-EGY 16 Aug 12:00 TIG 

21 SRB-GER 16 Aug 12:30 CAS 

23 BRA-POL 16 Aug 20:00 CAS 

26 GER-BRA 18 Aug 12:00 TIG 

27 POL-RUS 18 Aug 12:30 CAS 

28 EGY-SRB 18 Aug 14:30 CAS 

1 B1 

2 B2 

3 B3 

4 B4 

5 

6 

124

20 August (Capital Indoor Stadium) - Quarter-finals 

Teams Time Result Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 

31 A1-B4 - - QF1 

32 A? - B?* - - QF2 

33 A? - B?* - - QF3 

34 A4-B1 - - QF4 

* Drawing of lots; Time schedule for quarter-finals: 10:00, 12:00, 20:00, 22:00 

22 August (Capital Indoor Stadium) - Semi-finals 


35 WQF1-WQF2 - 12:30 - SF1 

36 WQF3-WQF4 - 20:00 - SF2 

24 August (Capital Indoor Stadium) - Finals 


Bronze Medal 

37 LSF1-LSF2 - 10:00 - 

Gold Medal 

38 WSF1-WSF2 - 12:00 - 

125

Competition Format 

www.fivb.org 

The Olympic Games Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Tournament 

will be conducted over the full 16-day program of the Beijing 

Games, from Saturday, August 9 (Day 1) to Sunday, August 

24, 2008 (Day 16). The Women’s competition runs through 

August 9-23 and the Men’s through August 10-24. 

There will be two competition venues: the 18,000-seater Capital 

Indoor Stadium in Baishi Bridge, Haidian District, Beijing, and 

the 5,000-seater Institute of Technology Gymnasium at the 

Beijing Institute of Technology. 

There will be 12 Men’s teams, consisting of 12 players each, 

and 12 Women’s teams, also consisting of 12 players each. 

Note: This Media Guide, released before the Games, lists 19 

players per team. The list of 12 is shown on the official FIVB 

website www.fivb.org. 

The competition for both Men and Women consists of a 

Preliminary Round, leading to quarter-finals for the first four 

places in each pool, semi-finals and two finals, one for the 

bronze medal (semi-final losers) and one for the gold and 

silver medals (semi-final winners). There will be a total of 38 

matches for Men and 38 matches for Women. 


Two Pools (A and B) of six teams each. Following a roundrobin 

formula, each team plays once against the five other 

teams in their Pool to try to reach the quarter-finals. 

Quarter-finals 

The first four teams in each Preliminary Round Pool will 

advance to the quarter-finals, eight teams in total. The format 

will be as follows: 

A1 vs. B4 B1 vs. A4 

A Drawing of lots will decide the pairings among A2,A3 and B2,B3 

Ranking 

The teams ranked sixth in each Preliminary Round Pool will be 

classified as joint-eleventh. 

The teams ranked fifth in each Preliminary Round Pool will be 

classified as joint-ninth. 

The losers of the quarter-final matches will be classified as 

joint-fifth. 

Semi-finals 

The four winners of the quarter-finals will advance to the 

semi-finals. 

Finals 

Winners of the two semi-finals will play for first and second 

places (gold and silver medal match). 

Losers of the two semi-finals will play for third place (bronze 

medal match). 

126

127

www.fivb.org 

Rules of the Game 

Rally point system 

With the Rally Point System (sometimes referred to as RPS), 

the team winning a rally scores a point regardless of which 

team is serving. When a team wins a rally, it gains a point and 

the right to serve. The last Olympic Games played with the 

“sideout” system were Atlanta 1996. 

Match format 

The match format for international Volleyball competitions is 

the best of five sets to 25 points for sets one to four and to 15 

points for set five, with all sets requiring a two-point advantage 

(unlimited). This new scoring system was introduced after the 

1998 FIVB World Congress held in Tokyo. 

Screening 

The players of the serving team must not prevent their 

opponents through individual or collective screening from 

seeing the server or the flight path of the ball. 

Other initiatives 

A newly designed ball by Mikasa, with the same weight, 

pressure and dimensions but with a revamped technical 

composition that includes indentations on the surface, has 

been approved for use for the very first time at the Beijing 

Games. 

The full Rules of the Game text for Volleyball can be found at 

the official FIVB website (www.fivb.org). 

Libero player 

The Libero is a specialist defensive player, dressed in a different 

color who can replace any player in a back row position. The 

Libero is not allowed to serve, block or attack, and can set 

only from the back row. 

“Service touching the net” 

If, when serving, the ball touches the net and continues to the 

opposite side, the play continues. 

Touching the net 

Touching the net with the body is not a fault except when 

playing the ball or interfering with the play. 

Timeouts 

Each team is entitled to a maximum of two timeouts per set 

and all timeouts last for 30 seconds. For FIVB world and official 

competitions, during sets one to four, two additional 60-second 

technical timeouts are applied automatically, when the leading 

team reaches the eighth and 16th points. In the deciding fifth 

set, there are no technical timeouts, with only two timeouts of 

30-seconds duration allowed to be requested by each team. 

Intervals between sets 

All intervals between sets are for three minutes. The interval 

between the second and third set can be extended up to 10 

minutes at the request of the organizer. 

Coach movements 

The coach may also give these instructions while standing or 

walking in the free zone, between the coach’s restriction line 

and his/her team bench, from the service zone up to the warm 

up area, provided that he or she does not disturb or delay the 

match. 

128

Referee’s Signals 

Technical indications 

Team to serve Time-out End of set (or match) Substitution 

Judgment on the ball 

Ball “in” Ball “out” Ball touched Ball “in” (flag signals) 

Ball “out” (flag signals) 

Ball handling 

Catch Double contact Double fault and replay 

Player’s faults 

Blocking fault 

or screening 

Attack-hit fault 

Net touched 

by player 

Reaching 

beyond the net 

Ball touched 

(flag signals) 

Sanctions 

Expulsion 

Misconduct Penalty 

Disqualification 

Delay Warning + 

Delay Penalty 

129

www.fivb.org 

Venue Information 

The Capital Indoor Stadium 

The Capital Indoor Stadium (CIS) is one of 11 newly renovated 

venues for the Beijing Games. It was built in 1968 and has 

hosted Volleyball, table tennis, badminton, basketball and 

gymnastics competitions, as well as skating and ice hockey. In 

2001, it was renovated for the World University Games, while 

the latest expansion has increased its size to 54,707 square 

metres. The competition court, training courts and Gamestime 

functional rooms were all renovated, with the ticket 

counter and registration center built from scratch. The CIS 

is friendly to people with disabilities, thanks to its newly-built 

handicap-accessible facilities, such as two lifts on its western 

side, an easy to use entrance and enlarged toilets. Six boxes 

on its third floor, seating a total of 48 wheelchair users, are 

reserved for people with disabilities. 

Quick facts 

Main court seating capacity: Up to 18,000 seats. 

Number of courts: Nine (one main court, two warm-up courts, 

six training courts). 

Travel time from Olympic Village by road: 15 minutes. 

Travel time from Olympic Media Village by road: 20 minutes. 

Venue media centre 

The venue press centre is at the west of the venue. The media 

entrance is located at the north of the venue. The venue 

media centre consists or provides access to the press work 

room, photo work room, press tribune, media lounge, mixed 

zone, press conference room. 

Photo work room: 50 seats and 25 photo lockers, equipped 

with desktop payphones, power outlets, INFO 2008 terminals, 

CATV monitors, information desk. 

Press work room: Equipped with pigeonholes, lockers, 13 INFO 

2008 terminals and 50 payphones, printers, fax machines, 

CATV monitors, information desk. 

Press tribune 

Press seats: 198 tabled seats, 274 non-tabled seats. 

Press conference room 

Location: Southwest corner of the first underground floor. 

Seats: 160. 

Mixed zone 

Location: To the west of the Field of Play. 

Photo positions 

Courtside: 60 photo positions on three sides of the Field of 

Play, including six Pool positions. 

Spectator stands: 60 photo positions in the stands. 

Medal ceremony: In front of the victory podium. 

130

The Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium 

The external “batfish” shape of the Beijing Institute of 

Technology Gymnasium is not the only distinguishing feature 

of the venue as it also fully exhibits the core of a “Green 

Olympics,” “High-tech Olympics,” and “Peoples’ Olympics.” The 

Gymnasium’s design reflects the values of a Green Olympics 

through environmental-friendly features. For example, three 

layers of insulation materials contribute to energy savings. The 

venue makes the most of natural light let in through multiple 

windows and skylights, practically eliminating the need for 

artificial lighting indoors during the day. The net-like structure 

of the 22,632 sq. m. venue’s rooftop was built by a method 

generally used only for bridge-construction. This method 

reduces the use of steel and results in a sturdy structure. The 

venue also features barrier-free facilities that accommodate 

both athletes and spectators with a disability. 

Quick facts 

Main court seating capacity: 5,000 seats. 

Number of courts: Three (one main court, two warm-up courts). 

Travel time from Olympic Village by road: 19 minutes. 

Venue media centre 

The venue press centre is at the back of the venue. The venue 

media centre consists of or provides access to the press work 

room, photo work room, press tribune, media lounge, mixed 

zone, press conference room, all on the first floor except the 

press tribune on the second floor. 

Photo work room: 40 work stations, two INFO terminals, 

pigeonholes, CATV monitors, bulletin boards, Internet 

access (paid), International/domestic telephone service, fax 

machines, printers, cellphone coverage, information desk. 

Press work room: Equipped with 120 work stations, lockers, 

10 INFO terminals, pigeonholes, CATV monitors, refrigerators, 

bulletin boards, Internet access, fax machines, printers, 

international domestic telephone connection, air-conditioning, 

information desk. 

Press tribune 

Press seats: 81 tabled seats, 126 non-tabled seats (Tabled 

seats may subject to change). 

Press conference room 

Location: Next to the media entrance. 

Seats: 45. 

Mixed zone 

Location: Around the southwest corner of the Field of Play. 

Photo positions 

Courtside: 30 photo positions. 

Spectator stands: 41 photo positions in the stands. 

131

www.fivb.org 

FIVB Officials 

Appeal Committee & Game Jury Members 

Control Committee President 

and FIVB Advisor 

Capital Indoor Stadium 

Dr. Rubén ACOSTA H. (MEX) 

and Mrs. Malú ACOSTA (MEX) 

Beijing Tech. Gym 

Dr. Rubén ACOSTA H. (MEX) 

and Mrs. Malú ACOSTA (MEX) 

Event Director Mr. Jizhong WEI (CHN) Mr. Cristobal M. HOFFIZ (DOM) 

Appeal Subcommittee Mr. Abdelhadi GHZALI (MAR) Mr. Rafael LLOREDA C. (COL) 

Appeal Subcommittee 

Appeal Subcommittee 

Mr. Francesco FRANCHI (ITA) 

Mr. Stanislav SHEVCHENKO (RUS) 

Venue Operations Subcommittee Mr. Aleksandar BORICIC (SRB) Mr. Shanrit WONGPRASERT (THA) 

Venue Operations Subcommittee 

Venue Operations Subcommittee 

Mr. Piero REBAUDENGO (ITA) 

Mr. Katsumi WAKAO (JPN) 

VIS Subcommittee Mr. Vicente ARAUJO (POR) Mr. Jivko JETCHEV (BUL) 

VIS Subcommittee 

Mr. Alberto RIGAMONTI (ITA) 

Refereeing Subcommittee Mr. Gavriel KRAUS (ISR) Mr. Hassan A. MOHAMED (EGY) 

Refereeing Subcommittee Mr. Sandy STEEL (SCO) Mr. Takashi SHIMOYAMA (JPN) 

Refereeing Subcommittee Mr. Sergey TITOV (RUS) Mr. Juan Angel PEREIRA (ARG) 

Officials 



Medical Delegate Dr. Manfred HOLZGRAEFE (GER) Dr. Amr ELWANI (EGY) 

FIVB Press Delegate Mr. Fabrizio ROSSINI (ITA) Mr. Andrea ZORZI (ITA) 

FIVB Official Photographer Mr. Mauro de SANCTIS (ITA) M. Fiorenzo GALBIATI (ITA) 

Refereeing 



Referees Mr. Osamu SAKAIDE (JPN) Mr. Kun-Tae KIM (KOR) 

Referees Mr. Andrei ZENOVICH (RUS) Mr. Massimo MENGHINI (ITA) 

Referees Mr. Dejan JOVANOVIC (SRB) Ms. Patricia SALVATORE (USA) 

Referees Mr. Laert Francisco DE SOUZA (BRA) Mr. Bela HOBOR (HUN) 

Referees Mr. Ümit SOKULLU (TUR) Mr. Frans LODERUS (NED) 

Referees Mr. Ibrahim AL NAAMA (QAT) Ms. Karin ZAHORCOVA (CZE) 

Referees Ms. Janpen JIRAKAKUL (THA) Mr. Frank LEUTHAUSER (GER) 

Referees Mr. Konstantin TUFEKCHIEV (BUL) Mr. Victor RODRIGUEZ (PUR) 

Referees Mr. Mohammed SHAHMIRI (IRI) Mr. Patrick DEREGNAUCOURT (FRA) 

Referees Mr. Mitch Davidson (CAN) Mr. Humberto SALAS (MEX) 

Referees Mr. Ning WANG (CHN) Mr. Liu JIANG (CHN) 

132

Part 3 - FIVB

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