Argentina finishes third successful week at 2011 FIVB World League – Volleyball news
The boys around head coach Javier Weber clad in sky blue and white outfits are enjoying the spotlight for their impressive performance at the men’s premier international event, 2011 FIVB World League. The tournament is three-weeks old now as it was officially
kicked off in the last week of May, 2011. Argentina started the campaign in Pool C, where it was accompanied by teams from Serbia, Portugal and Finland. The Argentinean squad exhibited a wonderful performance and got hold of the top slot in the rankings.
In the third week of the tournament, Argentina was up against the Finnish team. Team Finland was not a big threat for Argentina as it had only captured one match in the first two weeks. Argentina and Finland played two matches in the third week and the first
match was a cracking fight between two sides, which lasted for five sets. Nonetheless, the final word was given in the favour of Argentina and the second match was totally dominated by the Argentinean team and they made clean sweep.
First match
The opening match of the third week was played in the Finnish city of Lahti. The Lahit Ice Arena hosted the action, while the match was held on Friday, June 10. It was the first match of the tournament held in Finland and it attracted more than 5,000 spectators.
The spirits of the local players were quite high. The opening set of the match started out and the Argentina squad came strong on the home team. Conte Facundo of Argentina set things off with his commanding serves. Afterwards, a better attack and defence helped
Argentina to lead the score. The hosts couldn’t match their performance with the guest team and dropped the first set.
The home crowd pushed their team to make a come-back in the following set. Mikko Oivanen of Finland put up a great effort and helped Finnish score to go higher. It was a daunting task to break through the strong Argentinean defence but Finland managed to
steal points. The hard work paid off and Finland claimed second set.
Argentina returned in the game in third set and broke the rhythm of Finnish spikers. They were back on track and built an overall lead of 2-1 by winning third set. Finland suffered the set-back duo to too many unforced mistakes. However, the home team denied
the better status of Argentina in fourth set and tied the score at 2-2.
The match entered final set and it was an equal chance for both teams to make a difference. The ball rolled over the net and long rallies were exchanged. In the end, Argentina proved to be better team and claimed fifth set. Finnish team fought bravely but
couldn’t overcome the power of Argentina.
Second match
The two teams once again took their positions on the two sides of the net on Saturday, June 11. Argentineans had the psychological advantage over the home team. They opened the game in a great style and threw some fire-balls into the Finnish half. Argentina
picked up the lead and further added consecutive points to stretch the margin. Home squad hit back strongly and incorporated the best of their tactics. Somehow, they trailed behind and failed to stop Argentinean score and the visitors secured the opening set
with a margin of four points.
Finland threw everything in the attack in the second set and scored some good points. The sensible play of the Finnish players allowed them to push Argentina behind. It seemed as if Finland was back in form. However, the resilient rivals had certain tactics
that helped them deal with the situation. Second set turned into a see-saw battle as it saw many ups and downs. Eventually, Argentina finished the set with success at 26-24.
In third set, Finland’s team was seemingly disappointed with their performance. Argentina showed no mercy and took the score by storm. They closed third set at 25-19 and claimed the second consecutive victory.
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