Brazil beat Argentina 3-2 (25/23, 25/21, 25/27, 19/25 and 15/12) to win the South American U20 title. The game was a hard fought war, with Argentina almost pulling the upset after being down 0-2. For Brazil, the win also avenged its 3-1 loss suffered to its bitter rivals during the competition’s preliminary phase.
The tournament, which was played in Peru, is Brazil’s 20th win in the South American U20 category, proving that the country still has a firm grasp in the continent’s youth volleyball scene. With the title, Brazil has clinched a berth at the 2019 FIVB U20 World Championship, to be played in Mexico. As runner ups, Argentina also clinched a spot.
Here are the post match reactions:
“It was three months of hard training, and it was all worth it. Now let’s celebrate a lot, because we deserved it. Argentina has a good team, they err very little, which makes our game difficult. After we lost to them in qualifying we knew that today we were going to go at them with everything we had, and we did it.” – Brazil’s captain Julia Bergamann
“Today’s game was even more difficult and balanced than we anticipated, but we overcame it all. Argentina is a very strong team. Today our block worked and was key to our victory. The Argentines have a lot of game, and this made our actions difficult. Anxiety was also one more opponent in the match and made the confrontation longer. We worked three months, two of them with this group that came to the competition. They worked hard and were worthy of this achievement. They managed to overcome their limitations both in the technical as well as the psychological sense.” – Brazil’s coach Wagner Copini
Dream Team
- MVP: Maria Mayer (Argentina)
- Opposite: Jheovana Sebastião (Brazil)
- Outside Hitters: Tainara Santos (BRA) and Angelis Ligorria (ARG)
- Setter: Maria Mayer (Argentina)
- Middles: Bianca Farriol (ARG) and Flavia Motes (PER)
- Libero: Keyla Ramalho (BRA)
Final Standings
1º Brasil
2º Argentina
3rd Peru
4º Chile
5º Colombia
6º Bolivia
7º Uruguay
8th Ecuador
Brazil’s road to the title
10/17 – Brazil 3×0 Bolivia (25/13, 25/16 and 25/12)
10/18 – Brazil 3×0 Colombia (25/16, 25/23 and 27/25)
10-19 – Brazil 1×3 Argentina (25/20, 26/28, 20/25 and 11/25)
10/20 – Brazil 3×1 Peru (25/22, 23/25, 25/23 and 25/14)
10/21 – Brazil 3×2 Argentina (25/23, 25/21, 25/27, 19/25 and 15/12)
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