The Cuban men's volleyball team opened the doors of hope during a dream-like first week in the 2024 Nations League and, in the process, managed to position itself advantageously within the qualifying process for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The squad led by coach Jesús Cruz accumulated three victories and one defeat in the initial stage of the competition, earned valuable points, and climbed to the ninth position in the world ranking, which will grant the last four tickets for the multisport event in French territory.
It should be noted that the competition started with 236.96 units and now it shows 261.17. This growth contrasts with Serbia's sharp decline, initially its main competitor for the final ticket, which dropped to eleventh place on the list and has 238.51.
Although the difference of 22.66 points is not decisive or anything close, the largest of the Antilles did take a considerable advantage when considering the level of play exhibited and the remaining schedule before the end of the competitive period.
The victories over Brazil, Germany, and Iran, always in four sets, propelled the Cubans. Even the defeat in a hard-fought five-set match against Japan barely affected their overall performance, although it still hurts to have been so close to dominating one of the main teams in the world.
The team performance became a convincing response for fans and detractors, with outstanding performances from the assistant players Marlon Yant and Miguel Ángel López and the central players Robertlandy Simón and Javier Concepción, as well as from the opposite hitter Michael “El Ruso” Sánchez and the setter Christian Thondike.
However, we cannot ignore the statistics of others who left the bench and contributed to the cause: Osniel Melgarejo, José Massó, and Liván Taboada, leaders of the rearguard in the parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Starting on June 4th, Cuba will have a second week of high complexity in Ottawa, Canada, where they will face the local team, Netherlands, Italy, and France, while 15 days later they will close the qualifiers in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, against Serbia, Bulgaria, Poland, and the host team.
Up to now, eight teams have secured a spot in the upcoming Olympic event: United States, Japan, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Canada, France, and Egypt, as the best-ranked African team in the world ranking.
The fight for three of the remaining four spots seems quite clear, as Italy, Slovenia, and Argentina have a good lead. The last spot is currently held by Cuba, although Serbia, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Iran still show signs of vitality.
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