Brazil reserves semi-final berth in the Olympics volleyball tournament – Volleyball News
In all-South American quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Brazil overpowered Argentina and advanced to the crucial semi-finals of the Men’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament. Brazil posted 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-20) win over neighbours of Argentina and clinched success.
The Earls Court in London hosted the match, while more than 11,000 spectators came to watch the thrilling action of volleyball. Brazil qualified for the Olympic semis for 6th time in the history.
Brazil jumped out of the gate and paced things with early attacks. The starting team-line worked out good performance and put Brazil in lead. Argentina played defensively and trailed behind. Brazilian spikes and aces found their way into the gaps, which led Argentina to loss in the opening set.
After dropping the opening stanza, Argentina threw everything in attack to cover the deficit. In the first half of the second set, Argentina fought a great battle with Brazil, but then lost the momentum. Brazil showed consistency in attack and claimed another set in row.
Argentina could not return in the game in third set either. However, Brazil kept the operations well under hand and announced match victory after winning third set.
Murilo Endres chipped in 14 points for Brazil and merged as the top-scorer of the match. He was followed by Sidnei dos Santos Junior and Wallace de Souza, who contributed 12 and 11 respectively.
For Argentina, Facundo Conte added 10 points.
“We did a very good match, tactically speaking. We were very focused, we played in the correct way. For now it’s good to go through (to the semifinals)” “We managed to control the pressure. We knew how to read their play. We had a quarterfinal against an Argentina side that was playing very well, but we need to improve,” said Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende at the post-match press conference.
Murilo Endres further added: “Today we played a very consistent match, compared to our first matches when we were a bit nervous. The goal was to make the minimum errors and I think the team is growing at the right moment.”
Argentina team captain Rodrigo Quiroga looked visibly sad and disgruntled about the match outcome. Nonetheless, he admitted that Brazil played well and deserved to win.
After winning the quarterfinal match, Brazil is one step closer to the Olympic victory. Brazil will go against Italy in the semi-final match on Friday, which will help the better team to move to the gold medal match. The losing team will have the only option to vie for the bronze-ware. Check back for more news and updates.
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