Brazil are with their backs against the wall, in danger of crashing out of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men's volleyball tournament, after a devastating defeat at the hands of a brilliant Italy in front of a passionate sellout crowd at the Maracanazinho Saturday night.
At the completion of round 4 in pool play, Italy secured the pole position in Pool A, set to clash with the fourth-ranked team of Pool B. But the other three qualifying spors from the so-called 'pool of death' are wide open ahead of Monday's closing round. Out of France, Canada, Brazil and USA one will have to join Mexico in going home.
Italy dashed the hopes of Brazil gaining an early ticket with a very convincing 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-15) win that keeps them the only undefeated team across the board.
Previously, USA had shown a remarkable recovery after loosing their two opening matches, scoring their second straight victory, 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 25-22) over France. And Canada got the job done with a a href="http://rio2016.fivb.com/en/volleyball/men/7147-canada-mexico/post">3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-22 sweep of winless Mexico.
By contrast, all four quarterfinal tickets from Pool B have now been booked, with Argentina, Poland, Russia and Iran advancing to the knockout stage and Egypt and Cuba taking the way home.
Argentina demolished Cuba 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-16) to nicely place themselves for a top position finish if they beat Egypt on the closing day. This would directly place the South Americans against the fourth-ranked team from Pool A for the quarterfinals.
In other Pool B action, Iran swept Egypt 3-0 (28-26, 25-22, 25-16) and Russia outlasted Poland 3-2 (25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13) to secure the last quarertfinals spot.
Men's pool play at the Rio 2016 Olympics concludes Monday. The top ranked team of each pool will face the fourth-ranked of the other. A drawing of lots will determine the pairings of the second- and third-ranked teams. The draw will take place in the Maracanazinho Press Conference Room immediately after the end of the last match, Monday night, between Brazil and France.
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