Tokyo, August 15, 2006: Despite all his success as head coach of the Brazilian women's team, Jose Roberto Guimaraes does not like to talk about where the next gold medal is coming from.
"One year is different to another one," he said in Tokyo on Tuesday, after a morning training session at Aoyama Gakuin University.
"I hope to have a good tournament and good performance; if it's possible to win, that's another thing. We will just try to play well."
Brazil will begin their defence of the World Grand Prix title at Ariake Coliseum on Friday. Their opponents on the first weekend of Grand Prix action are Korea, Cuba and Japan, and the teams will be aiming for a top-five finish to book a place in the six-team final round in Italy next month.
The Canaries have won the Grand Prix title five times in 13 editions, and will be looking for a "three-peat" in 2006 after taking the gold medal in 2004 and 2005.
"They are in good shape," Ze Roberto said of his 14 players, who arrived in Japan on Sunday after a week's training camp in Amsterdam.
"It's important to play this tournament against teams such as Cuba, China, Japan and Korea so we know our level.
"There are good teams here in the World Grand Prix and that is important because our target is the World Championships. We will use the World Grand Prix to prepare for the World Championships and get the rhythm of the team and see all the players play.
"At the moment it's difficult to say what my team will be for the World Championships because a lot of things can happen and there can be a lot of combinations. I don't like to say I've already decided on six or eight players; I want them all to keep playing for a place."
The Brazilians have played in three tournaments this year and won them all, at Montreux, Courmayeur and the Pan American Cup in Puerto Rico.
The squad this year looks taller and stronger than last season, when Brazil won both the Grand Prix and World Grand Champions Cup in Japan.
Mari Steinbrecher has recovered from shoulder surgery last year and was the best attacker and MVP at the Pan American Cup, and Fabiana Claudino is fit again after suffering a soccer-style metatarsal injury. Fabiana was the best blocker and Arlene Xavier the best libero at the Pan American Cup, where Brazil suffered a shock defeat to Puerto Rico before going on to win the title.
