2006 Men's World Championships - Egypt
Egypt hoping for repeat performance
(FIVB)
03/22/2005
Alexandria, Egypt, March 22, 2005 – Egyptian Volleyball
fans are hoping for a rare double as they wait with
great anticipation to see if their national men’s
Volleyball team can follow in the footsteps of their
women counterparts and win their 2006 men’s World
Championship second round tournament (Africa Pool B)
when it starts in Alexandria on Thursday.
The Egyptian women’s team beat South Africa, Botswana
and Nigeria in a 2006 Women’s World Championship first
round tournament (Africa Pool A) in Cairo, Egypt, which
finished on Saturday to become the first women’s team to
confirm a spot in the final round in Japan, joining
hosts Japan and defending champions Italy.
The men’s team will be looking to do the same against
Cameroon, RD Congo and Sudan, who reached the tournament
having won the (Africa Pool A) first round tournament in
Sudan in February. The winner of the tournament will
become the first men’s team to confirm a spot in the
final round in Japan, joining hosts Japan and defending
champions Brazil.
Egypt, who participated in the 2003 World Cup, are the
hot favourites for the three-day competition with their
Serbian coach Veselin Vukovic completing a thorough
preparation programme following the end of their local
league at the end of February.
Cameroon, semifinalists in both the 2003 African Nations
championship and the 2003 All Africa Games, will use
seven European based professionals in their line up
aiming to collect their first ever ticket to the World
Championship final round, while RD Congo, will depend
mainly on the experienced players of their local league.
