It was with emotion that the Argentine team of volleyball won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics after a tiebreak victory over Brazil, with partials of 25/23, 20/25, 20/25, 25/17 and 15/13, this Saturday, at Arena Ariake. This was the second bronze in the history of the Argentine national team, which achieved third place at the Olympic Games in Seoul, in 1988, against the same Brazil.
For the Brazilian team, it was the first Olympic participation without going up on the podium since Athens-2004, when the silver generation opened the way for national volleyball on the international stage.
The highlight of the match was Argentine Facundo Conte, who finished with 20 points. On the Brazilian side, the highest scorer was Wallace with 17.
The game
In the first set, the game started balanced, with the two teams exchanging points and without any team straying too far on the scoreboard. In the middle of the initial partial, however, Argentina found a great moment in the game and managed to open three points on the scoreboard in the middle of the opening set.
On the Argentine side, Facundo Conte stood out. With a great volume in attack, he was Argentina’s great player in the first set, and caused many problems for the Brazilian defense. On the Brazilian side, Renan, unlike what he did against Russia, as soon as the opponent put the advantage on the scoreboard, decided to change Leal for Douglas Souza.
Brazil found it difficult to score with blocking. The selection only made a blocking point after the 85th point of the match. The team was having difficulties, because the blockade was not managing to be efficient and the defense was overloaded to defend the Argentine attacks and counterattacks.
At the end of the first set, Brazil managed to approach the scoreboard and even threatened Argentina in the last points. However, the opponents managed to turn the last ball and won the first half by 25/23.
2º sets
The second round also started with balance. Brazil grew a lot and seemed, in addition to being more focused, much more vibrant. Brazilian players started to celebrate more and play more intensely in the second set.
Brazil also improved because it started to force more the serve, something it wasn’t doing in the first set. With a stronger serve, mainly from Lucarelli and Wallace, the Argentines found a lot of difficulty in the pass and created less clear chances of scoring.
Douglas was a big name in the second round. The pointer called for responsibility, attacked well and managed to score in key moments of the match. With a better overall performance in Brazil, the team managed to open up and close the second set with 25/20 on the scoreboard, tying the game.
3º and 4º sets
The Brazilian team started the third set quite inattentive, and saw Argentina soon open up the advantage at the beginning of the partial. Renan’s team, then, managed to improve considerably and, playing an intense and intelligent volleyball, soon recovered and got the advantage. Leal returned to the court and made a great start from that. Brazil walked calmly in the second half and closed by the score of 25/20.
In the fourth set, Brazil let Argentina escape and the opposing team opened up an advantage on the scoreboard in the middle of the partial. At one point in the set, Brazil came to be losing by six points and was dejected. The Argentines had an excellent defensive performance. On the Brazilian side, the team had the worst set in the entire Olympics, and the game went to tie break.
Argentina’s victory in this partial seems to have discouraged the Brazilians. Lucão admitted that the growth of rivals on the set “scared” Brazil.
“We thought they were more dead than they were,” said the central.
Tie break
Brazil has already started the decisive set leaving Argentina to open a good advantage in the set. The opposing team seemed to be in a better psychological moment than the Brazilians, who lost the previous half. Excited and excited, our neighbors put so much energy into the court that even the Argentine TV narrator stood up and excited during the tiebreaker set.
At the sound of “Eu Crête”, sung by the Brazilians present at the Arena, Brazil did not lose heart and went after the game. Renan took the opportunity to change the game, putting Cachopa, Alan and Douglas in the game, which improved the team’s spirits. The team managed to slow down, making the end of the game exciting.
The match, however, ended with a victory for Argentina, with a 15/13 tie break.
Lucarelli denies rebate
After losing the semifinal to Russia, one concern was about how the team would enter the court against Argentina for this bronze dispute. Lucarelli, however, said the team was not down.
“The weather was pretty cool. Of course it was impossible to forget against Russia, but I believe we went in with a clear head,” said the national team player. “We were playing. We started well and for nonsense we lost the advantage. Game against a high level team is like that.”
The captain, Bruninho, admitted that Brazil was fickle throughout the competition, which weighed on the final result.
“It ended up being a keynote in the competition. Today that was in the fourth set. We made mistakes”, said the setter. “That ended up weighing me down. I think it’s difficult. The 48 hours were not easy to come back with strength and determination,” he added.
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