Brazil wins final of Pan American Games men’s volleyball tournament
The final of the Pan American Games men’s volleyball tournament was held on the Saturday, October 29, between the top teo teams of the tournament, defending champions Brazil and Cuba. The competition between the two sides was tough as anticipated but after
four thrilling sets, Brazil was able to get its hands on the gold medal yet again.
The first set of the match was fairly one sided as the Cubans were seen struggling with getting into form whereas the Brazilians were having no problem with staying in the lead. Therefore, the Brazilians did a quick job of smothering the Cubans in the opening
frame of the game. The loss of the first set triggered the Cubans into action and they were able to step up their game in the second set and give the Brazilians some tough competition. As a result, after a long hard struggle, the Cubans got to equalise the
match by bagging the second frame. The third set started off with both the teams almost even but as the game progressed, Brazil was seen to have the upper hand and the Cubans gradually fell behind as Brazil bagged yet another win. The fourth set saw some sparks
fly between the two sides but the Brazilians managed to stay strong as the sealed the deal on the match at the following final set scores: 25-11, 24-26, 25-18 and 25-19.
The coach of the winning team, Rubinho Leonaldo, expressed his jubilation in the following manner at the press conference that was conducted after the match had reached its close: “Facing Cuba is always difficult, they are very strong physically and so are
their defence and blocking game. But overall I am happy with this result. The gold medal means a lot due to the work done by the players and representing the first team of Brazil as an athlete and coach has a big meaning.”
On the other hand, the Cuban coach Orlando Samuels, shared his feelings in the following manner: “I want to congratulate Brazil, technically and tactically it was the strongest team in this tournament for the rest of the competitors.”
Wallace De Souza made Brazil proud by registering a total of 21 points for his side. De Souza was helped by his team mate Luiz Fonteles who scored a total of 15 points for his side. On the other hand, the Cuban player that was the most active in the match
was Fernando Hernandez Ramos who kept the pressure on his opponents by putting up 18 points in all.
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