Belo Horizonte, BRAZIL, August 17 (fivb.ch) - The Brazilian men's volleyball team beat Yugoslavia 3-2 Saturday to advance to the finals of the World League.
The Brazilian national team, fired by thousands of fans, opened their bid for a second consecutive World
League title by defeating Yugoslavia (3- ) 25-27, 25-19, 25-12, 21-25, 18-16 on Saturday here in Brazil to
secure their ticket in Sunday's final here in Belo Horizonte. But the Yugoslav team did not make it easy for the
local heroes, capitalizing on early Brazilian nerves to take the first set. The Brazilians equalized to 1-1 and
completely overran the Yugoslavs 25-12 in the third. Classic Yugoslav fighting spirit kicked in to allow them
back in the match and presented the opportunity for a thriller tiebreaker that finally went to the titleholders
18-16.
Yugoslavia was almost faultless in the first set while Brazil had problems with their service, allowing the
Yugoslav to capitalize on the attack. Brazil was behind 23-20 but middle-blocker Rodrigao came on, reforced
the blocking and tied the match 23-23. Then an ace by middle-blocker Geric gave the Yugoslavs the first set.
Forced errors let the Yugoslavs down in the second set and improved service allowed Brazil to close the set
25-19, then go on to completely dominate the third with excellent blocking (seven against just one for
Yugoslavia). With a very strong defense the counter attacks were commanded by super star Giba and André
Nascimento.
Yugoslavia were more concentrated in the fourth set and with effective blocking and some errors in Brazil's
reception allowed them back in the match for the tiebreaker, which proved an absolute thriller. It was an attack
by the Brazilian opposite Giovane and an error by the Yugoslav wing-spiker Miljkovic that presented the
Brazilians with a chance to defend their World League title on Sunday.
Attendance: 14,600. Referees: Wang (China) and Nava Abarca (Mexico). Match duration: 2:05.
YUGOSLAVIA: Jokanovic, Maric (won one point), Janic, Boskan (6), Mester (5), Mijic (libero), Nikola Grbic (6), Vladimir Grbic (5), Geric (7), Vujevic (10), Miljkovic (24), Vusurovic (3).
BRAZIL: Gavio (5), Randow (11), Lima (1), Godoy (19), Nascimento (21), Santos (libero), Rodrigues, Bitencourt (9), Endres (17), Santana, Garcia (1), Amaral.
Previous Yugoslavia's results at the final tournament of the World League
YUGOSLAVIA - Poland 3-0
YUGOSLAVIA - France 3-0
YUGOSLAVIA - Italy 2-3
