2024-07-07 06:18:02
Text: Cuba News 360 Editorial Team
Foto: Shutterstock
More than the crucial week, the crucial match for Cuba in the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) is approaching, which will almost certainly define its fate for the Paris Olympic Games. The Cuban team will open the actions of the third and final stage of the qualifying phase this Wednesday against Serbia, the other main candidate to take the only remaining spot for the summer event. The loser of that match can practically say goodbye to the French capital.
However, the team under the command of Jesús Cruz started the match at a disadvantage without having yet set foot in the Stožice Arena in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, which will host the group five matches. While the Serbian team has been in Europe for more than a week, the Caribbean team landed at the venue only this Sunday after a long journey of more than 30 hours and two stops.
Still under the effects of jet lag and fatigue, Cuba will go for victory knowing that among its next three rivals are the hosts Slovenia and the powerful Poland, two of the most complete teams in the world at the moment, as they have demonstrated in the current edition of the VNL where they are second and third, respectively. The other opponent will be Bulgaria.
But the outlook is not very encouraging for the Balkan team either, since they will also have to face the Poles and Slovenians after the Cubans, as well as Turkey, so both teams will go out to play everything that day, considering that the winner will double their advantage in the ranking.
Having overcome the two previous phases, in which they exchanged places and hopes, Cuba and Serbia now have an almost similar score, which could vary drastically depending on the result of the transcendental match.
The island sextet finished the second week with 250.64 points after losing to Canada, the Netherlands, Italy and taking a victory in tie break against Olympic champions France. Serbia, for its part, achieved two significant victories against the Netherlands and Canada, before succumbing to the United States and Argentina, to increase its lead to 251.44, just 0.91 points ahead of the Antilleans.
As things stand, a 3-0 victory on Wednesday would give whoever wins a whopping 10.5 points, but if it’s Cuba they’ll be 20.09 points ahead. The downside is that a smile from the Europeans would boost their current lead to 21.91.
On the other hand, the final score of 3-1 will add 7.55 points to the team that emerges victorious, which if it is the national team will assume a superiority of 14.19 points in the world ranking. The defeat, meanwhile, would bury it 16.01 points below the Balkan team.
The last scenario is perhaps the only one that allows a glimmer of hope for the team that goes out through the narrow door. The team that wins 3-2 will receive 5.05 points and if it is Cuba, it will go ahead by 9.19 points, while the Europeans would get 11.01 points ahead if they win.
In any case, next Sunday we will know if the Caribbean island will return to the competition under the five rings in men’s volleyball, after attending for the last time in Rio de Janeiro 2016. For now, the Antillean squad closes the qualification spots for the final phase of the VNL that will be held in Poland from June 27 to 28.