Poland profits from home advantage and defeats Brazil 3-2 – 2012 FIVB World League
The thrilling action of 2012 FIVB Men’s World League is currently underway. In Pool B, Poland and Brazil came in to a head-to-head battle at the weekend.
Polish City Katowice provided the backdrop for the match, which prolonged to five tiring sets. Poland played under the tag of hosts and defeated the visiting team, 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-10). Victory allowed Poland to maintain its supremacy
in the group with 5-1 record. On the other hand, Brazil moved to 3-3 after the loss.
Poland had a contribution of 26 points from top-spiker Zbigniew Bartman, who performed amazingly well and topped all scorers in the match. Michal Winiarski of Poland was the second-best scorer with a total of 18 points. Likewise, Murilo Endres chipped in
team-high 12 points for Brazil.
Brazil opened the match with a display of good fighting spirit. They made convincing attacks and pushed the hosts behind. Gradually, Poland grasped the game plan of visitors and came up with appropriate plan. Poles tied the score at 7-all and further took
up lead. Thereafter, they added quick points and breezed past the guest team, 26-24.
Second frame featured similar action, where both teams traded the lead at regular intervals. After many ups and downs, Brazil managed to overcome the hosts and used two-point advantage to win the second set (25-23).
The game of hit ‘n’ run continued in the third set, which progressed in the same fashion. Nothing was clear until Poles hit the final two points to end the third set at 25-23. Brazil did not let the Poles get away with lead and created the dead-lock of 2-2
by winning fourth set with identical score (25-23).
It was an interesting predicament in the 15-point golden set. The spectators were on the tip of their toes to know the match result. Poland started out well and picked up lead. Brazilians used many different tactics but could not avoid the loss in final
set, 10-15. Ultimately, Poland finished the match 3-2 and celebrated victory.
The Head Coach of Brazilian team, Bernardo Rezende, congratulated Poland for their amazing win. He commented, “Team Poland is doing a great job, players and staff. It was a tough match. Amazing audience! We lost, but we did all that we could. Poland deserved
this victory, so they won. Everything happens for a reason, we have to understand those reasons. We have to learn now and improve in the future.”
His Polish counter Andrea Anastasi, who seemed totally satisfied with his team’s action, said, “It was a really interesting match. It was really important for us, not only because we won, but also because we learned a lot. The boys believe in our team and
that's extremely important.”
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