Men’s Volleyball World Championship's second round preview
The second round of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Men’s Volleyball World Championship is ready to start on Thursday.
Eliminated in the first round were: Australia, Canada, China, Iran, Tunisia, and Venezuela. Another six teams will be eliminated in the second round.
It’s a round robin format for both the first and second rounds. In the first round six pools of four teams all played against each other. The team that finished in last was eliminated. In the second round
six more pools were formed, each one consists of three teams, and only two advance to the third round from each pool.
Pool G (Italy, Puerto Rico, Germany)
Italy looked good in Pool A, finishing with a perfect record. The competition will be slightly tougher in the second round, but it would take a pretty major upset to see Italy miss the third round.
Puerto Rico’s only loss in the first round was to a powerful Russian squad, and it was close, coming down to a fifth set.
Germany squeaked past Canada in Pool F on the total points tie-breaker, although they had beaten the Canucks 3-0 when they played.
Pool H (Cuba, Serbia, Mexico)
Cuba went undefeated in Pool B, beating difficult opponents, Brazil and Spain. Both wins came in five sets. The Cuban team will be full of confidence as they take on weaker teams in the second round than
they faced in the first.
Serbia was upset by Canada in the first round, and finished with a 1-2 record. They pushed into second spot in Pool F on total points.
Mexico went into their final game of the first round with a 0-2 record against the 0-2 Venezuelans. They won that match 3-0 to qualify for the third round.
Pool I (Russia, Spain, Egypt)
Russia beat Peutro Rico in their final game to earn top spot in Pool C. They’ll face a difficult Spanish team here in the second round.
Egypt only won one game but managed to finish in second spot in Pool A. It will be difficult for them to beat either Russia or Spain.
Spain has only won one game, but their loses came to Cuba and Brazil, both are tough teams. They did also provide Tunisia’s only set win of the tournament.
Pool L (USA, Czech Republic, Cameroon)
The Americans finished the first round with a perfect record in a difficult pool that included, Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela.
Losing only to France in five sets, the Czech Republic looked good in the first round, but they’ll be in tough to defeat the US.
Cameroon’s only victory in the first round came against the Australians. They lost to Russia and Puerto Rico, and it will not get any easier for them in the second round.
Pool M (France, Argentina, Japan)
France didn’t lose a game in the first round, but they needed a fifth set to beat both the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
Argentina’s only loss so far has come at the hands of the Americans. The match-up between France and Argentina should be a close one.
Japan beat Egypt, but lost to Iran, a team that didn’t qualify for the second round. They didn’t look good against Italy either losing in straight sets and scoring only 40 points.
Pool N (Poland, Brazil, Bulgaria)
Poland didn’t lose a game in the first round, although it was close against Germany as they won 15-13 in the fifth set.
Brazil’s only loss so far has come to Cuba, and they looked good beating Spain 3-1.
Bulgaria made it very close against France in the first round, taking them to a fifth set which they lost 19-17.
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