Argentina will begin their second World League with coach Velasco at the helm
Mendoza, Argentina, May 28, 2015 - Mendoza is preparing to host Argentina's first matches in the 2015 edition of the FIVB Volleyball World League. The city will act as a venue for the world's most important annual men's tournament for the third time - this time with the local favourites facing Cuba on Friday and Saturday in back-to-back Pool C games, both to be held at the Polideportivo Torito Rodríguez.
Argentina are hoping to snap a losing streak at this hall, as they have lost all four World League games played there - two to the hands of South American powerhouse Brazil in 2013, and two against France in 2014.
On Wednesday morning, the home squad led by Julio Velasco arrived in Mendoza straight from their training camp in Buenos Aires. The legendary Argentinean coach has chosen a similar team to the one which lined up in Colombia recently, where the light blue and whites qualified unbeaten for the upcoming FIVB Volleyball World Cup in Japan.
Middle blockers Pablo Crer and Martín Ramos, opposite José Luis González and libero Sebastián Closter are the most known faces and were part of the team at the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship Poland 2014. Outside spiker Rodrigo Quiroga has been replaced by Cristian Poglajen, and middle blocker Pablo Guzmán has also been left out to recover from a recent knee injury.
Cuba will arrive on Thursday afternoon. The Caribbean side suffered a double defeat against Canada a couple of weeks ago and lost spiker Lázaro Fundora during those games. They will be aiming to bounce back from those misadventures when they take on Argentina in Mendoza.