Azerbaijan coach smiling about the future

But talk to him about the future and he is smiling. Azerbaijan may have been eliminated but Garayev is confident they will return in four years time with a stronger team.

It's just a matter of giving the country's talented youth more experience.

"Overall, I'm not satisfied with the results in this tournament because I know we can do better than this," said Garayev, who will continue without retiring veterans Yelena Shabovta and Inessa Korkmaz.

"If our subsitute players can have more experience and play more internationally, then the Azerbaijan team in the future will be very strong."

Garayev said he wishes Shabovta, 37 and Korkmaz, 34, the best in retirement.

"Players are replaced all the time and we knew this is would be the last international tournament for them.

"Yelena was not fully fit but still she worked hard for the team. Also Korkmaz wasn't 100 per cent but both of them worked hard despite their ages.

"From now on I hope they have a good life. They will be retiring from national team but will play for their clubs. After that they will train our next generation of players.

"For Azerbaijan, we are now getting younger players and it is our task to groom them and help us build a stronger team."

Shabovta played 89 matches for Azerbaijan before this tournament and finished the group matches as the 24th best spiker.

Korkmaz, with 30 appearances prior to Japan, wasn't used as much as Shabovta but still made some important contributions during the second round in Osaka.

Azerbaijan were ranked 19th in the world before this tournament. They ended up winning two games in Pool B in Sapporo, against Dominican Republic and Mexico, and followed up with another two victories in Pool F in Osaka over the United States and Puerto Rico.

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