HAVANA, Cuba, August 20, 2005.- Cuba confirmed its place in the final round of the 2006 Men’s FIVB World Championships, with a 3-0 victory over Panama. The Norceca-E Qualification Tournament finishes on Sunday. Canada secured the other berth for the next year event.

The host team did not have strong opposition in the first two sets that ended 25-15, 25-13, with the action of its regular players, superiors technically and physically.

In the third set, they went with the bench players to give the chance of playing to the younger members and the score was 25-22.

Yasser Portuondo was the top scorer with 13 points, followed by Raidel Poey with 11 and Olvedis Dominico with 10. Ricardo Brown had 7 points for Panama.

Roberto García, coach of Cuba: “Panama has given signs of volleyball evolution throughout the tournament and they leave with a deserved third place. We again worked with the reserves, although during the first two sets we preferred to play our regulars in order to keep them in rhythm.”

Pavel Pimienta, captain of Cuba: “We are happy with this triumph and the qualification, and now we are expecting tomorrow’s match against Canada.”

Jose A. Remon, coach of Panama: “The team of Cuba is very superior than us and we only hope to have in the future three or four of good size in order to have better performances and to be at their level.”

Eduardo Guerra, captain of Panama: “It was a good match where they once again showed their superiority in both technically and in preparation. We did our best and this will be helpful in the future.”