U.S. snaps Brazil’s winning streak: 2011 FIVB World League - Volleyball
The U.S. Men’s Volleyball team took revenge from Brazil in the last match of the third week on Sunday, June 12. They posted a 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 16-25, 26-24) on the board and claimed victory over Brazil at the loss of one set. The Brazilian city of Belo
Horizonte hosted the match, while Minerinho gymnasium set the field of play for both teams.
Pre-match scenario
The Olympic champions had their first meeting with their arch rival Brazil on Saturday, June 11. Brazil was equipped with enormous support of local fans at the Mineririnho gymnasium in Belo Horizonte City. The U.S. team showed some resistance in the opening
set but lost three consecutive sets afterwards. Brazil maintained its dominance in the pool and pulled off success in a tough match. The success in Saturday’s match was a competitive edge for the Brazilian team. Moreover, the same Brazilian city and same venue
was scheduled to hold the second match on Sunday. The conditions surely spoke in favour of Brazil. However, U.S. team was prepared for battle. They had learnt a lot of things about their opponents in the first match. They worked on their flaws and honed their
skills for the second encounter.
Match overview
Team USA opened the match on strong footing. Powerful serves from Clayton Stanley put the American team in an early lead. Brazil, on the other hand, struggled with silly errors. Clayton formed a good combination with captain William Priddy and raised his
team’s score with the offensive attack. Rodrigo Santana of Brazil put his hand up in the air at almost every shot but couldn’t stop the American hitters. The ball kept rolling over the net and visitors held the grip of the game in their hands. Brazil suffered
the loss of the opening set in the 28th minute of the game. U.S. team claimed the set by posting 25-21.
The second set also became successful for U.S. team. They made a good start and kept an upper hand on the hosts. The strong lead of 11-5 encouraged them to further tighten the screws on the Brazilian team. Brazilian players tried to pull back but Americans
denied their efforts and second set slipped from the hands of the home team.
Brazil was devastated with the loss two sets in a row. They realigned themselves and came up with a different plan in third set. The hosts hit strongly and picked up the lead over their opponents. Brazilian wing-spiker Murilo engaged U.S. team in heavy strike
of cross court shots. U.S. team couldn’t help the situation and dropped third set (16-25).
The fourth set was close but the Americans ended up on top.
Post-match scenario
The cracking match was followed by a press conference, where coaches and team captains of both sides had their say about the match.
Murilo Endres, the Brazilian skipper said that start of the match was very bad. They couldn’t give out their 100 percent in the match. In his opinion, the team suffered the set back on account of too many mistakes during the crucial moments of the game.
The Head coach of Brazilian team, Bernardo Rezende expressed similar thoughts. He said the team was required to play with intelligence but they made a lot of mistakes. However, he stated, “We will work more to achieve our main goal now that is the classification
for the final round.”
American team captain William Reid Priddy called it a great match. He said the team followed coach’s vision and put up a combined effort, which helped them over the difficult Brazilian squad. The mentor of U.S. Team, Alan Knipe, seemed totally satisfied
with his side’s come back. He stated, “I think we did not make so many errors during the important moments. Yesterday I said for my team that we could not give so many errors for them and it did not happen today.”
In the end, Knipe praised Brazil for maintaining such an amazing environment for volleyball.
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