Leonardo Vissotto Neves
Brazil captain Bruno Rezende was named the MVP of the match. His teammate, Leonardo Vissotto Neves, topped all scorers with an impressive 26 points, followed by Poland‘s Zbigniew Bartman with 15.
Both teams started the match with the same lineups as on Friday. Poland opened the first set very well and quickly gained three-point advantage (5-2 and 8-5 at the first TTO). The guests stayed closely behind, however, which led to a thrilling finish of the set played point-by-point. Despite the support of a full house (12,000 people), the Poles did not maintain control as Brazil took the set 28-26 and the lead in the match, 1-0.
Brazil kept the momentum from the previous set and quickly jumped ahead to a three-point lead at 7-4, forcing Poland‘s coach Andrea Anastasi to call time-out. It did not change the play, and Canarinhos increased the advantage to six points (14-8). However, Poland managed to regain focus and, after a discussion with the referees resulting in a yellow card for Brazil, the score was 19-18 for the guests. Nevertheless, it was Brazil who celebrated a victory at the end, 25-22.
With the overall score 0-2, Poland was determined to stay in the match, and they started set three very motivated and concentrated. The score stayed close throughout the set with the Poles leading 16-15 at the second TTO. They managed to increase the advantage to four points at one stage (22-18), and eventually picked up the set 25-23 to stay in the match, trailing 1-2.
The beginning of set four was a continuation of very balanced play, up until the first TTO, when the Poles took the lead 8-5. They then pushed their lead to a five-point advantage (11-6, then 16-11 at the second TTO). The Brazilians were unable to catch up, and Poland triumphed in the set 25-20, setting the overall score at 2-2.
The final set started better for the Canarinhos, and they were the ones leading 6-3, then 8-5. Changing sides did not help the hosts as they were soon losing by five points (12-7). Brazil showed their power and took the set 15-10 and the entire match 3-2.
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