Bulgaria – team
Bulgaria proved they merited their place in the finals by beating Poland for the second time in a row, 3-2 (20-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 19-17) on Saturday, even though they didn’t need the win to advance. Bulgaria ends the Intercontinental Round in second place of Pool A with 17 points, ahead of France, Poland and the USA, with 12 points.
Brazil secured the top place in Pool A with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 28-26) victory over the United States in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. With the victory, Brazil has 22 points and leads Pool A. With the loss, USA ends their 2013 FIVB World League run; the USA needed a 3-0, 3-1 or 3-2 win on Saturday, as well as a win Sunday, to enter the finals.
Germany came back from a 0-3 loss in Iran on Friday, with a 3-0 win against the home team on Saturday (25-21, 25-23, 25-22). Neither team had a chance to make the finals after Friday’s loss by Germany, which helped Russia secure their second-place spot in Pool B.
The USA and Brazil will wrap up the 2013 FIVB World League Intercontinental Round on Sunday at 12:35 GMT. Despite the USA’s loss Saturday, captain Matthew Anderson guaranteed that his team will be motivated for Sunday’s match against Brazil.
“If you start behind in the score against Brazil, it is really difficult to get back to the match. We have no chances to qualify to the Finals, but we’ll play with pride for our country. Our motivation is always to make a good match.”
The Finals of the 24th edition of the world’s premier annual men’s volleyball tournament will be held in Mar del Plata, Argentina from July 17 to 21, 2013. The top two teams from pools A (Brazil and Bulgaria) and B (Italy and Russia), the winners of pool C (Canada) and the host nation (Argentina) will be compete in the finals.
To read more news from this competition click on World League 2013 M.
