FIVB MEN’S CLUB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
- October 18-23
- Betim, Brazil
- Full results
- Watch live on FIVB’s YouTube channel or follow on Twitter
After Bolivar stole a surprise first set on Saturday against the defending Men’s Club World Champions from Sada Cruziero, the Brazilian side recovered to win the next three sets rather handily (21-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-19).
But after the match, the moods were the reverse of what one might expect based on the final result. The Bolivar players were encouraged by their early result, and the Cruziero squad was fatigued and searching for answers before a replay of the 2015 championship game against Zenit Kazan.
Post match comments, courtesy FIVB:
Pablo Crer, Personal Bolívar player: “We’re happy for the way we played the first set. We did it very well against a rival who has proven to be the best of the world in recent years. We have a bit of a strange feeling, because when they opened the game with their serves we couldn’t hold them. We must learn from this and be this aggressive tomorrow to reach the third place.”
Javier Weber, Personal Bolívar coach: “First of all, I want to congratulate Marcelo (Méndez) and the entire team of Cruzeiro. The way the game went on is very clear – We played a fantastic first set, focused, serving well and keeping the ball in the air. After that, Cruzeiro controlled the game through their serves and our attack went down. It’s also something to credit them, because they stopped us on blocking and defence. Tomorrow we have a big opportunity to win a medal; if we play the way we did today we have plenty of chances.”
William Arjona, Sada Cruzeiro captain: “Our best quality today was to have been competent against a team that knows how to play well. Personally, I’m not very satisfied with my game; I think we’re tired at this point of the week, so now we need to recover energy for the decisive match tomorrow. But anyway, we had good moments, only in the first set we failed on defence, which is one of the strengths of our team. We could fix that and things were better then.”
Marcelo Méndez, Sada Cruzeiro coach: “It was a difficult game, the first set we faced some difficult serves and couldn’t solve that until the following sets, where our serves and spikes were the ones that prevailed. We found more options on attack and that helped us to win, while they couldn’t maintain the power and accuracy of their serves. Now it’s time to rest, as tomorrow we have an even more difficult game. Both teams are leveled for the final, I think – We have a good rhythm of play and they do as well.”
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