USA and Brazil share points and still fight for the participation in Final Eight of World League 2011. Poland easily collected 6 points over Puerto Rico.
USA and Brazil clashed once again in the exciting battles for the top spot of pool A. After the 5th weekend of World League Brazil still remains the leader of the pool but after another epic victory USA made one step closer to the Final Eight. World champions after the painful defeat in front of their home audience had one simple goal for their tourney in USA: win twice and make as many points as possible. Brazilians are drugged to victories and simply double their efforts when somebody stop them as USA did recently.
It seemed that their simple plan did work as they managed to keep their pace and find a right rhythm in the first match. What is probably one of the biggest advantages of canarinhos is that almost all of the players (all of them?) have an ability to become a leader of the team and lead to the success. Theo played a one-man show on Saturday, scoring 24 points but got a huge support from his colleagues, Giba and Murilo. Brazil once again made use of their powerful and difficult service and Giba collected 3 precious aces for his team. USA was close to the victory in every lost set, both teams were playing point by point but in the crucial moments of the game it was Brazil which was able to commit less errors and communicate better.
Despite the unsatisfactory result for the team of Alan Knipe, their performance was very good. Once again brilliant veterans Clayton Stanley and William Priddy showed some of their best skills and were the key players of USA while young Matthew Anderson had another good day and collected 11 points for his team. It was a battle between two equal teams and the winner was simply a squad which could better cope with pressure and fatigue. Brazilians also seemed to stay focused all the time while hosts had serious problems in the end of sets. However USA managed to win the third set but didn’t have enough power to stop canarinhos again in the following set. Brazil earned another victory after a really tough fight and it was clear for both sides that Americans would look for more luck in the rematch. What I really like about the team USA is their ability to get back into the game even after a painful defeat. They are never afraid of any competitor while having the respect even for outsiders like Puerto Rico. We will never see Americans upset or broken by the unsatisfactory result.
They simply are able to put it all behind and start another match with a clear mind and clear aim: victory. And they did it again! USA took their revenge and won over the favourites 3-1. This time it was a true team spirit which leaded to another success. All of the players had their share in the wonderful result and all the guys deserve the highest compliments for their performance. While William Priddy and Clayton Stanley played at their usual level, Matthew Anderson and David Lee did their best to delight their fans. Murilo, Giba, Theo and Lucas were trying hard to stop hosts who were speeding up from one action to another but even their best skills were not enough to stop the whole team playing at the master’s level. USA knew they were about to win that match and they always make the right use of such opportunity. They are always dangerous but when they found some weak points of their rivals they are becoming deadly dangerous. Brazil committed far too many own errors to think about another victory. And USA also mastered at counterattacks, not allowing their rivals to play their pace and rhythm. We all got used to the fact that Brazil is almost winning everything in a row, doesn’t matter which kind of competition is that. Fortunately it doesn’t scary all of their rivals. When USA is aboard we can still expect some volleyball at its best with the result being still a mystery. Brazil is still building up their shape for the Final Eight but already showed us these guys want to win the competition for the 10th time in a row . Fortunately they aren’t the only favorites. And the excellent performance of USA proved that some surprise might happen…
Poland sticked to the plan of their coach Andrea Anastasi and easily twice won over Puerto Rico, earning precious 6 points. Poles had some difficulties only in the first game when visitors put all of their efforts in the beginning of the game, desperately looking for a first point in their debut in World League. However Polish team proved its maturity and got back into the action after losing the opening set. Bartosz Kurek was playing in trance and his powerful spikes and brilliant serves were of crucial importance for his team. Kurek scored 30 (!) points in the first match earning the title of MVP. Also other young players like Piotr Nowakowski and Zbigniew Bartman don’t slow down. Poland as the host is already sure their participation in Final Eight but every victory matters as the perfect preparation for fight for the medals. However in my opinion the true test for the guys of coach Andrea Anastasi will be these week’s battles against Brazil. In my opinion the longer Poles can resist, the bigger are their chances against the great Brazil. Still great but already not unbeaten…
