Brazil vs. USA: Match Preview 2011 FIVB World League - Volleyball
Men’s National Volleyball Teams from Brazil and United States are set to open the third-week of 2011 FIVB World League on Saturday, June 11. The city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil will host the match and the fans are thrilled to witness the clash between two
of the stronger teams in the tournament. Brazil is labelled as the defending champion, while USA is regarded as the winner of the 2010 FIVB Grand Prix.
The two sides are meeting after a gap of almost three years. Last time, they crossed paths in the final showdown of 2008 Olympic Games. Once again, they are scheduled to play two matches on Saturday and Sunday and both matches will be hosted by Brazil.
Brazil has maintained its perfect record in Pool A by winning all their matches in the previous two weeks. They exhibited a spectacular game and have not allowed any team to hinder their performance tus far. In the first week, Brazil was challenged by Puerto
Rico. The team failed to stand any chance of victory against Brazil and lost both matches. In the next run, Brazil defeated Poland and got hold of the top slot in the rankings of Pool A.
On the other hand, the U.S. team is one step down in the pool rankings at the number two spot. Team USA received a shocking defeat from Poland in their opening match of the tournament two weeks back. Nonetheless, Americans got their form back after the early
damage. They pulled off success in the following three matches. USA finished with the final score of 3-1 at the end of second week.
As the Pool A toppers get ready to face-off, they are looking at each others pros and cons. Team Brazil is equipped with the finest players, who have a lot of potential to stage an impressive play. Brazil’s João Paulo Tavares, who plays the wing-spiker position,
is very confident at giving a great performance. Tavares moved to Sao Paulo when he was a kid and so he didn’t get a chance to play at any of the local clubs of area. However, this coming match would provide him a perfect opportunity to perform in front of
people from Belo Horizonte. He said it is a good chance that his family will get to see him playing in the national team.
The U.S. team is also fully prepared to take on the tough rival. The skipper of U.S. team, William Priddy, expressed his views and stated, “It’s interesting because I really think that given the first two weekends, the best thing we can do is try to improve
on taking care of the ball on our side of the net. We still have a lot of things on our side of the net that can be cleaned up: free-ball passes, transition hitting and setting. Unforced errors are not something we want to be in the fabric of what this team
is made of.”
The Legendary Brazilian head coach, Bernardinho, is aware of the potential of his opponents. He has urged his players to pay attention to every little point, in order to cope with the power of the Americans. Talking of their recent achievements and team-line,
Bernardinho said, “They kept almost the same group from the last Olympic Games. Stanley is great server and he can make the difference. It is an open game without favourite. They lost Ball who is an amazing player but their team is still really strong. We
want use these games to guarantee our classification for the Final Round.”
As the two team get ready to clash, dont forget to check back for updates and scores.
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