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Brazil beat Siberia in the Volleyball World League Final
Madrid, July 14: World Champions Brazil beat Olympic champions Serbia and Montenegro 3-2 in the Volleyball World League Final in a closely-fought match.
Madrid, July 14: World Champions Brazil beat Olympic champions Serbia
and Montenegro 3-2 in the Volleyball World League Final in a
closely-fought match.
Brazil took the FIVB World League title in Madrid on Sunday (July 13) in a final which went to a tiebreak as the two teams were so closely matched.
Brazil won 3-2 (25-16, 21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 31-29) in a match which lasted nearly two hours. Brazil is now World Champion, World League title-holders and on top of the volleyball world rankings. The Brazilians go home from Spain with respect for a Serbia and Montenegro team that pushed them to the limit.
Brazil started strongly with some early blocks from Santana Rogrigo and was soon 8-3 in front, spurred on by the drumming of their fans in the arena fashioned from a former bullring.
Serbia and Montenegro found it hard to settle and serve after serve failed to find their mark.
The Brazilians Giovani Gavio and Andre Nascimento delivered a range of killer spikes and Brazil built up an 18-12 lead At 23-14 Nalbert blocked Ivan "The Terrible" Miljkovic, then Giovane aced for set point. Brazil then took the set on a Serbia and Montenegro error at 25-16.
Serbia and Montenegro tried to settle quickly in the second set and amassed a four point lead at 8-4, but they were still inconsistent. A block that went astray for Serbia and Montenegro put Brazil to within one point of them at 19-18. Seconds later Miljkovic served and the ball skipped off Giovani's fingers to give them 23-19. Serbia and Montenegro took the second set to equalise at one set each.
Serbia and Montenegro caught hold of Brazil's coat-tails at 5-5 in the third with a classic Nikola Grbic deceptive shot and managed to hang on for most of the set, thanks to better timing and accuracy. Serbia and Montenegro then proved they had adapted to the Brazilian play by taking the third set 25-19 to lead the match.
Brazil's enthusiastic fans were taken aback when Serbia and Montenegro took an early 4-0 lead in the fourth set but Brazil took the set to force a thrilling tiebreak.
With matchpoint going to Brazil, the team's captain Nalbert Bitencourt jumped up onto a table and bowed to the crowd.
Miljkovic gained 28 points to be top scorer for both match and tournament, while his teammate Andrija Geric was top server and blocker of the tournament. Martin Lebl of the Czech Republic (who finished fourth after losing to Italy in the Bronze match) was top tournament spiker.
Bureau Report.
Brazil took the FIVB World League title in Madrid on Sunday (July 13) in a final which went to a tiebreak as the two teams were so closely matched.
Brazil won 3-2 (25-16, 21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 31-29) in a match which lasted nearly two hours. Brazil is now World Champion, World League title-holders and on top of the volleyball world rankings. The Brazilians go home from Spain with respect for a Serbia and Montenegro team that pushed them to the limit.
Brazil started strongly with some early blocks from Santana Rogrigo and was soon 8-3 in front, spurred on by the drumming of their fans in the arena fashioned from a former bullring.
Serbia and Montenegro found it hard to settle and serve after serve failed to find their mark.
The Brazilians Giovani Gavio and Andre Nascimento delivered a range of killer spikes and Brazil built up an 18-12 lead At 23-14 Nalbert blocked Ivan "The Terrible" Miljkovic, then Giovane aced for set point. Brazil then took the set on a Serbia and Montenegro error at 25-16.
Serbia and Montenegro tried to settle quickly in the second set and amassed a four point lead at 8-4, but they were still inconsistent. A block that went astray for Serbia and Montenegro put Brazil to within one point of them at 19-18. Seconds later Miljkovic served and the ball skipped off Giovani's fingers to give them 23-19. Serbia and Montenegro took the second set to equalise at one set each.
Serbia and Montenegro caught hold of Brazil's coat-tails at 5-5 in the third with a classic Nikola Grbic deceptive shot and managed to hang on for most of the set, thanks to better timing and accuracy. Serbia and Montenegro then proved they had adapted to the Brazilian play by taking the third set 25-19 to lead the match.
Brazil's enthusiastic fans were taken aback when Serbia and Montenegro took an early 4-0 lead in the fourth set but Brazil took the set to force a thrilling tiebreak.
With matchpoint going to Brazil, the team's captain Nalbert Bitencourt jumped up onto a table and bowed to the crowd.
Miljkovic gained 28 points to be top scorer for both match and tournament, while his teammate Andrija Geric was top server and blocker of the tournament. Martin Lebl of the Czech Republic (who finished fourth after losing to Italy in the Bronze match) was top tournament spiker.
Bureau Report.