Tillie not putting Japan exit on shoulders of absent standouts
Japan coach Laurent Tillie had no excuses following their exit in the 2025 FIVB Men’s World Championship.
While the Ryujin Nippon may have won its match against Libya on Wednesday night at Araneta Coliseum in front of a rowdy “home” crowd, that didn’t overturn the fact that it was not advancing to the competition’s Round of 16.
Early on in the tournament, people predicted the squad to fumble in the world championship when the final roster was released and star player Yuji Nishida wasn’t included.
Some people saw it as a point of concern. Tillie, though, saw it as something that can’t be helped.
“Volleyball players are very important, like (Yuji) Nishida, (Masahiro) Sekita, Kentaro Takahashi, (Akihiro) Yamauchi,” he said, followed by a short pause.
“But they are not here.”
“Of course, he is missing but I trust the players here. That’s it. The most important thing is to understand that the international level is very high and rankings are nothing.”
Nishida wasn’t included in the team’s lineup for the Manila games due to undisclosed reasons.
The other names that Tillie mentioned, on the other hand, have already retired from international play.
Even when the final list was revealed, neither Tillie nor the Japanese team lowered their goals. And they still did manage to win one game despite falling short of a ticket for the next phase of the tourney.
The troika of Ran Takahashi, Yuki Ishikawa and Kento Miyaura still managed to give the Filipino fans, who made Japan the second home team here, something to cheer about in their last game of the tournament.
“It’s true that for Japan, playing for the Philippines is very nice because they love the Japanese players,” Tillie said.
“It’s nice for the players because they’re stars here. It’s also a good promotion of volleyball. It’s nice to share the same passion for volleyball here so I hope to come back here soon,” he added.
There’s no telling exactly when Japan will be back in Manila for action but the squad vowed to come back stronger and compete better next year, wherever that may be.
