Almaty, Kazakhstan, July 14, 2017 – Colombia prevailed over Croatia 3-1 (25-22, 25-27, 25-19, 25-20) on Friday at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace to mark the South American side’s first win against a European team in FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix Pool D2.
Colombia coach Antonio Rizola Neto: The best thing about this match is the attitude of my team, the attitude of a winner. Today, we made another achievement. In Peru, we made history by winning against Puerto Rico. Today, we made another achievement, and I hope tomorrow, we will continue this way.
Colombia captain Maria Alejandra Marin: Today we followed our game plan. We played with much concentration, but we also try to smile. Day by day, we try to play better. During training, we try to have a different attitude, and it turned out for the best.
Croatia coach Miroslav Aksentijević: Colombia fought from the beginning until the end. They performed very well. For our team, we came here to gain experience. In difficult moments, we made simple mistakes. In other cases, we made good points, which is normal for a young team for the performance to go up and down. We must be strong to continue to work with young players, to allow them to grow, and give us the level we hope for.
Croatia captain Samanta Fabris: We are disappointed because we can play much better than today. We had a lot of mistakes and I think this was our problem. Colombia played good defence and they put us in great difficulty. Congratulations to them, and for us, we must concentrate on the next match.