Tokyo, October 17, 2006: Argentina’s men’s team received a rousing World Championships send-off from 10,100 fans in Buenos Aires, despite losing their last home friendly to Brazil 3-1.
Brazil, the reigning world champions from 2002, recovered from losing the first set to win the match 24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-14 at the famous Luna Park Stadium.
The defeat marked the end of Argentina’s preparations on home soil for the World Championships, having played more than 35 friendly matches in 25 cities in 13 provinces - a journey of over 19,000 kilometers.
Argentina, coached by Jon Uriarte since May, will now go on working at Cenard facilities until November 5, when they will travel to Australia for four more warm-up matches, three against the Aussies and one against Canada.
They plan to arrive in Japan one week before their opening Pool A match, against Puerto Rico at Saitama Super Arena on November 17.
Argentina, ranked seventh in the world in the latest FIVB rankings, will also play Poland, China, Japan and Egypt in Pool A, chasing one of the four qualifying spots for the second round.
