Barcelona, Spain, June 4, 2017 – When Renan Ribeiro was a child, he dreamt of making his mark in volleyball. Now, the 29-year-old player spearheads Qatar’s quest in the 2017 FIVB World League. The Brazilian-born player is in his eighth season as a Qatari international and he acts as captain of the squad aiming to cause a sensation in Group 3 of the World League.
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“When you are a child, you dream big,” Ribeiro says. “You just want to be your best. Thank God Qatar have done an amazing job giving great opportunities to improve the game, not only in volleyball but in many other ways.”
“Eight years ago, I was in Brazil and I found myself in a very tough environment. Qatar offered me the chance to develop my game, to practice and I am grateful for that,” declared the wing-spiker.
The leader of the multi-national Qatar team started playing volleyball in his home-town of Birigui, 521 kilometres (327 miles) from Sao Paulo. Ribeiro is a true globetrotter of the sport after having played in the leagues of Portugal, Morocco and the Czech Republic in addition to Brazil. Ribeiro currently heads top Qatar league team Alarabi S.C.
“Playing in Qatar and in Brazil is obviously very different. Qatar is in a state of development of the game while Brazil is at the top of the FIVB World Ranking and the level of competition is much higher. The challenges there are much bigger. But Qatar is expanding the game; they have been working hard on that for a number of years and they are really trying to improve,” said the 193-cm player.
“Our goal this season is to compete at the highest level. We know that the level in the World League is still very high for us, but we will try very hard.”
Qatar registered one victory and two defeats in the three matches played in Barcelona, and the squad headed by Italian Massimiliano Giaccardi aims at leaving its mark in this edition of the World League. Whatever is the outcome of Qatar in the world volleyball, the fate of the team is currently in Renan Ribeiro’s capable hands.