Defending Champions Brazil hang on to beat Spain – Volleyball News
After losing the chance to play in the semi-finals, the defending champions Brazil, worked out a great performance against Spain on Tuesday, August 9. They posted a 3-1 (25-20, 18-25, 25-20, and 25-16) victory over Spain and grabbed the chance of finishing
the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship in the top five teams. Brazil had the obvious advantage of playing at home as Maracanazinho Gymnasium, in Rio de Janeiro hosted the match.
The useful 2-point lead for Brazil at the first technical timeout proved to be a great help for them. They managed to put some pressure on the rival side and did not allow them to go higher on the score-chart. Lucarelli of Brazil threw unstoppable spikes
and took the score to 16-12 at the second mandatory stop. Afterwards, Brazil earned two points via attack and two points through errors by Spanish player David Sanllehi. As the gap of point stretched out, Brazil played fast and achieved set points at 25-20.
The following set had a similar feel as both teams remained at close distance. Initially Brazil led the scores with 2-points, while later Spain traded the lead. In the meanwhile, Brazilian side committed reception mistakes and Spain took the advantage. Spanish
Ruiz offered solid blocking to Brazilian attack and dismissed most of their attempts. Spaniards led the scores in second set and closed the net with final score of 25-18. The game score was tied at the end of second set.
It seemed as if Spain was back in business but Brazil crushed their plans by capturing the 3rd and 4th set in a row. Spain slipped the chance to play in the 5th position match, while Brazil celebrated victory.
Brazil had the contribution of 15 points by Ricardo Lucarelli, who wore No. 8 shirt and played in outside hitter’s position. Further help was provided by his teammate Bernardo Reitz, who added 10 points in Brazil’s score. Francisco Ruiz and Jorge Almansa
of Spain registered 18 points each.
Quotes and Comments
Brazil’s Coach Leonardo Carvalho expressed his views after the match. He stated: “It was a warm match. Spain played under its capacity. Our toughest work these days was to motivate the players after the frustration we had for not reaching the semifinals.
We really wanted to be in the semifinals, but the best we can do now is be fifth placed, so we will try to make it against Iran, which is a great team.”
Francisco Hervás, the Spanish mentor regretted the los off match but praised the good work of Brazilian squad. He made a good remark about Brazilian team that they didn’t give Spain a many chances. Anyhow, Hevas looked more concerned about the next match
against India for 7th-place. He believed that Spain has the ability to beat India.
Jorge Almansa, skipper of Spain commented: “There is no much to say about this match. We made too many mistakes in front of a strong team as Brazil. We were not the team we are used to be.”
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