Cubans continue to creep out of Copacabana shadows

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 12, 2016 – Cuba’s Nivaldo Diaz and Sergio Gonzalez progressed to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games quarterfinals after they defeated Austria’s Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) at the Copacabana Beach Arena on Friday.

Here’s what they said after the match…

Nivaldo Diaz, Cuba

“I think that gives us an advantage to play against teams that don’t really know our strategy and how we play, but it’s not 100% that. It’s also the hard work that we have put in it. Even if they knew our game, they should be prepared and have a strong game against us, because the surprise is on us.”

Sergio Gonzalez, Cuba

“We’ve finally made it to the final eight and we always said to go step by step and to go keep winning and it’s so exciting. I have goosebumps now because it’s so exciting.

“We keep our focus all the time, and also our serve, our spikes, our blocks – this gives us a lot of advantages. But we also play with a lot of energy …

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