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Serbia-Montenegro - Brazil 2-3
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| Brazilian captain Nalbert holds up the trophy (Reuters) |
Madrid, SPAIN, July 13 (fivb.ch) - Brazilian typhoon hit Palacio de Vistalegre in the first set. With an extraordinary playing in all the aspects of the game, mighty Brazilian team gave a lesson of volleyball to destroy all the resources from a Serbia & Montenegro's squad that could do nothing but hide from the storms of balls from the other side of the net.
Brazil only allowed Serbia & Montenegro to make 16 points in the first set (16-25) and gave the first warning of a champion.
Nevertheless, the reaction from the team trained by Veselin Vukovic could not be better. Serbia & Montenegro reacted to the south-American show by taking risks in the serve and being more aggressive in the offense. This strategy took by surprise to Brazilians and put Olympic champions back in the game (25-21).
At that point, each team had achieved one set and both of them had run out of surprises; in the third set, Serbia & Montenegro played a firmer game, less dependable on inspiration. Nikola Grbic's work in the setting was again essential. The experience setter (who also won the last point of the set) as well as some unforced errors that appeared in the Brazilian squad at the most precise moments, provided Olympic champions the set (25-19).
Slobodan Boskan, below, has his shot
blocked by Brazilian player (Reuters)
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Brazilian Head Coach, Bernardo Rezende gave room in the court to Gilberto Godoy Filho 'Giba', who had been scarcely used throughout this World League Finals. With Giba in the starting six, Brazil recovered the magic of the first set and put an answer to Serbia & Montenegro's talent to win the fourth set (23-25) and put the championship in the balance of the tie-breaker.
None of the teams would surrender easily in the decisive set. The tie persisted after point 15 and even after point 25, and no team seemed able to achieve the final KO. In this situation, the squad making fewer errors, would win the championship. A attack error by Miljkovic and a sensational spike by Giba meant the 29-31 that worth a World League championship.
*****
World League, final match, Madrid, SPAIN, July 13
Serbia-Montenegro - Brazil 2-3 (16-25, 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 29-31)
Hall: Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid. Attendance: 10,850. Referees: Kim (Korea) and Wang (China).
SERBIA-MONTENEGRO: Rajko Jokanovic, Milan Vasic, Bojan Janic, Slobodan Boskan (won 10 points), Djula Mester (7), Vasa Mijic (libero), Nikola Grbic (7), Vladimir Grbic (1), Andrija Geric (11), Goran Vujevic (16), Ivan Miljkovic (28). Coach: Veselin Vukovic
BRAZIL: Giovane Gavio (12), Andre Heller (7), Henrique Randow (4), Mauricio Lima Gilberto Filho Godoy (9), Andre Nascimento (9), Dutra Sergio Santos (libero), Anderson Rodrigues (12), Nalbert Bitencourt (14), Rodrigo Santana (9), Ricardo Garcia (5), Guimaraes Dante Amaral. Coach: Bernardo Rezende.
SPIKES: Serbia-Montenegro 58/121 (Miljkovic - 22/45), Brazil 65/132 (Rodrigues - 12/20)
BLOCKS: Serbia-Montenegro 15/67 (Boskan 5/11), Brazil 10/66 (Rodrigo 3/16)
SERVES: Serbia-Montenegro 7/118 (Miljkovic - 4/20), Brazil 6/121 (Gavio - 2/13)
POINTS FROM OPPONENT'S ERRORS: Serbia-Montenegro 38, Brazil 40
*****
After the match ...
Nikola Grbic
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"It is difficult to talk about a match like this, because no-one is really conscious about what really happened. We will have to wait and watch the video. What I do have to say is that while I am disappointed that we lost, I am also satisfied with the way we played," (Serbia and Montenegro's captain, Nikola Grbic).
"We showed that this was a final between the two best teams in the world. It is difficult to say what made the difference. It was the best ever result for us in the World League" (Veselin Vukovic, coach of Serbia and Montenegro).
"This was a fantastic match, maybe the best in volleyball history. It is not every day that we see such a match and it was a beautiful victory. I think for our sport and for the public, it was fantastic,"( Brazil's captain, Nalbert Bitencourt).
"Sometimes in such a tiebreak maybe there should be a point where we put up our hands and declare both teams the winner. But sport is not like that and nevertheless I want to say that Serbia and Montenergo are great champions. We started well and all through the match, we continued to believe. Volleyball is always looking for stars, but if I had to name the star of the Serbia and Montenegro team, there are too many. For my team there were nine stars, all the players on the court and we should never forget that volleyball is a team sport," (Brazil's coach Bernardo Rezende).
(www.fivb.ch)
*****
Third Place Match: Italy - Czech Republic 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19)
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Top players of the World League final tournament
Top scorer: Ivan Miljkovic (Serbia and Montenegro)
Top spiker: Martin Lebl (Czech Republic)
Top blocker: Andrija Geric (Serbia and Montenegro)
Top server: Andrija Geric (Serbia and Montenegro)
*****
- Pool E, Gameday 1 (July 8): Serbia-Montenegro - Czech Republic 3-0
- Pool E, Gameday 2 (July 9): Serbia-Montenegro - Spain 3-1
- Pool E, Gameday 2 (July 10): Serbia-Montenegro - Greece 3-1
- SEMIFINAL (July 12): Serbia-Montenegro - Italy 3-0
- FINAL (July 13): Serbia-Montenegro - Brazil 2-3
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