By Armstrong Vas
Doha: Roberto Piazza – the new coach at the helm of affairs at the Qatar national team - aims to take the ‘step by step’ approach as he gets ready for his challenging assignment.
The Qatar team, which made history by making the cut for the FIVB Volleyball World League has hired the Italian expert at the helm to help them tread the world volleyball stage.
Yesterday, the 48-year-old who won multiple Italian and overseas club titles, signed a one-year contract at the Qatar Volleyball Association (QVB) headquarters.
Speaking to reporters Piazza, who will take charge of the team in May, said the he wants to better the achievements of his predecessor.
“I know the previous coach Juan Manuel Cichello did a really good job for the national team and I want to improve on his achievements,” Piazza said while talking to reporters after signing a one-year contract.
Piazza replaces Cichello of Argentina as coach of the men’s team. Cichello has joined another Asian powerhouse, the Iranian men’s national team, as an assistant coach to compatriot Raul Lozano.
For the Italian, the first major challenge will be the World League where Qatar will make their debut in June this year.
“Our first challenge is the World League and we have to prove that we can stay in the world league. The world league will be a really good experience for players and give them an opportunity to play against the strongest teams from all over the world.”
The Italian tactician, who will take charge in May after finishing his contract with the Greek club Olympiacos, said a month time is more than enough for him to prepare the team for the World League.
“For a good coach, 20 days, 20 matches are enough to build a good team, but I need to check on the new players, that is the reason I need to call a lot of players and after maximum ten days I need to put my focus on maximum 15 players, because those 15 players will hold the key to a good performance in the World League. The situation in my opinion is very good and we have do it step by step,” said Piazza who has been into coaching since 1990.
The new Qatar mentor will be up for the new challenge after Qatar produced good results including a sixth place finish at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games and an all-time high of fourth at the Asian Championship in Iran last year.
Qatar’s last competitive outing was at the GCC Championship in September in Riyadh, where they finished as runners-up to Bahrain.
This year, in addition to the World League, Qatar will also compete in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Cup in India from September 19 to 25.
The Peninsula
