Brazil and Italy have set themselves up a rematch of the Athens 2004 final, when both qualified to Sunday's Rio 2016 Olympic Games men's volleyball gold medal match after impressive appearances in Friday's semifinals against Russia and USA respectively.
It's a record fourth straight and sixth overall Olympic Games final for Brazil, who won gold medals in Barcelona 1992 (over The Netherlands) and Athens 2004. Italy will be taking their third shot at their first ever gold medal, after losing in the finals of Atlanta 1996 (to The Netherlands) and Athens 2004.
USA, the Beijing 2008 gold medallists, and Russia, the defending champions from London 2012, will play for bronze on Sunday morning - also a rematch of the Athens 2004 bronze medal game, which Russia won in straight sets.
Semifinal proceedings opened with a match as close and intense as they come, with some huge serving, unbelievable digging and colossal spiking that found Italy just that little bit stronger in the fourth set to force a tie-break and then overwhelming in the fifth to edge USA 3-2 (30-28, 26-28, 9-25, 25-22, 15-13).
Brazil followed suit with a solid sweep of Russia 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-17) in less than an hour and a half. It was a very welcome result for Brazil fans in the once again sold out Maracanazinho, after they had seen their team struggle through pool play.
Brazil players celebrate advancing to their fourth consecutive Olympic Games final.
The men's final is scheduled for Sunday at 13:15 at the Maracanazinho, shortly before the Closing Ceremony of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad right next door at the Maracana Stadium. The final will be preceeded by the bronze medal match at 09:30.
Summary Statistics - Men’s Tournament Rio 2016
Highest Scorer by Day
21 – Facundo Conte of Argentina v Iran on August 7
23 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Iran on August 9
21 – Earvin Ngapeth of France v Canada on August 11
36 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Russia on August 13
26 – Antonin Rouzier of France v Brazil on August 15
24 – Wallace de Souza of Brazil v Argentina on August 17
25 – Matt Anderson of USA v Italy on August 19
Top Scoring Performances
36 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Russia on August 13
26 – Antonin Rouzier of France v Brazil on August 15
25 – Antonin Rouzier of France v United States on August 13
25 – Gavin Schmitt of Canada v Italy on August 15
25 – Matt Anderson of USA v Italy on August 17
24 – Wallace de Souza of Brazil v Argentina on August 17
23 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Iran on August 9
Top Individual Blocking Performances
8 – Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Poland on August 9
8 – Artem Volvich of Russia v Egypt on August 11
6 – Max Holt of USA v Italy on August 19
5 – Facundo Conte of Argentina v Iran on August 7
5 – Pablo Crer of Argentina v Russia on August 9
5 – Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Cuba on August 11
5 – Graham Vigrass of Canada v Mexico on August 13
5 – Emanuele Birarelli of Italy v Brazil on August 13
5 – Mauricio de Souza of Brazil v France on August 15
5 – Dave Lee of USA v Italy on August 19
Top Individual Service Performances
5 – Max Holt of United States v Mexico on August 15
5 – Ivan Zaytsev of Italy v USA on August 19
5 – Matt Anderson of USA v Italy on August 19
4 – Ricardo Lucarelli of Brazil v Mexico on August 7
Top Team Blocking Performances
17 – Russia v Egypt on August 11
16 – USA v Italy on August 19
13 – Iran v Poland on August 9
13 – Iran v Cuba on August 11
13 – Argentina v Cuba on August 13
13 – Italy v Brazil on August 13
Top Team Serving Performances
10 – Egypt v Cuba on August 9
10 – Italy v USA on August 19
9 – Brazil v Mexico on August 7
Highest Scoring Sets
37-35 Poland v Argentina (3rd Set) on August 11
31-29 Iran v Cuba (2nd Set) on August 11
31-29 Italy v Iran (1st Set) on August 17
30-28 Italy v USA (1st Set) on August 19
28-26 Italy v United States (1st Set) on August 9
28-26 Iran v Egypt (1st Set) on August 13
28-26 USA v Italy (2nd Set) on August 19
26-24 Argentina v Iran (2nd Set) on August 7
26-24 Canada v Brazil (1st Set) on August 9
Highest Scoring Matches
217 – Poland d Iran 3-2 (25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 18-16) on August 9
217 – Italy v USA 3-2 (30-28, 26-28, 9-25, 25-22, 15-9) on August 19
202 – Russia d Poland 3-2 (25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-10) on August 13
195 – Italy d United States 3-1 (28-26, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23) on August 9
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
