On Saturday evening, the Philippines couldn’t find any answers to Thailand’s attacks as the team finished on the losing end of a straight-set loss, 13-25, 10-25, 16-25.
For head coach Jorge Edson Souza de Brito, the lack of preparation ahead of the exhibition game served as the bane in their first match of the PNVF International Challenge.
“It’s an international friendly match. It’s always hard because we wanted to show our best but you don’t have time to practice, unfortunately,” he admitted.
“They are on another level, and it’s good for us because they accepted the invite to give this chance to us.”
He claimed that the international schedule, which also affects the availability of several players, hinders him from fully addressing the things that need improving for the national team.
Still, Souza de Brito acknowledged that he will have to make the necessary adjustments in order for his program to thrive moving forward.
“It’s always hard to talk about just because you have to think about our international schedule. It’s not always easy to say,” the 55-year-old stressed.
“It’s a long way and a hard way, but you have to find out these [things]. Because doing these adjustments in the future, you will have our level going up.”
The Thais were no easy opponents for the Filipina spikers. They are coming off a successful title defense after snagging their 13th consecutive gold medal finish in the recently-concluded 31st Southeast Asian Games.
According to Souza de Brito, having a long preparation and competing in top international competitions continue to elevate Thailand into becoming one of the world’s best volleyball teams today.
“They are prepared to play in the VNL and the SEA Games for that,” he claimed.
“The championship is starting in December and they’ve been practicing internationally for a long time so they’re doing this as a kind of preparation since forever.”
At the same time, he also admitted that the Thais will have to maximize the Manila Leg of the VNL in order to score more points and climb up the standings. They currently sit at the seventh spot with a 3-1 record.
The team is slated to compete against Canada, Poland, Japan, and the USA starting next week at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“I think they’re on a really good level and the chance that they have against these national teams — it’s right down on the first round and second round in the VNL because those guys are playing for outside international teams like Italy, Turkey, and even in Brazil,” Souza de Brito continued. “They really have to use this first leg to score points in the VNL but they’re doing good.”
After absorbing a straight-set loss to the Thais, the Brazilian national remains optimistic about their chances to perform better. They go up against a Japan side that is currently topping the VNL standings with a 4-0 slate.
“We are trying to find our best lineup, but I think it will be better tomorrow than today. I’m sure,” he claimed.
