Brazil 3×2 Italy: how the match went

Renan Dal Zotto repeated the composition of the last matches, with Bruno, Honorato, Lucarelli, Lucão, Flávio, Darlan and Thales.

Italy started nervously, making service errors, while Brazil cheered the crowd with a block from Lucão to make it 7-4. At 8-5, the Italians have already called a timeout.

Still disorganized on the field, the Italians saw Brazil open five points at 13-8. Between the balls of Darlan, Lucarelli and Flávio, the team had a score of 21-15. A Darlan attack finished by Honorato transformed the third set point for the home team, 25-23. 13 of Brazil’s points in the partial were due to Italy’s errors.

In the second set, Michieletto, Lavia, Romanò and Sanguinetti returned more balls and led 9-6 then 12-7. But Brazil reacted. With five straight points and Cachopa and Alan on the court, the set was 12-12 and reached 18-15 for the team.

When Italy tied it at 22-22, Brazil called a timeout. A second decisive ball from Giannelli for 24-22 made the difference and the Azzurri took a set that seemed lost by 25-23.

The actions started in a balanced manner in the third, but Italy became stronger, especially thanks to the offensive power of the Lavia pointer, and opened a wide advantage, closing to 25-15.

The energy of the Brazilian team and fans returned in the fourth set, taking a 10-6 lead. With three straight points from Darlan, the gym went crazy and Brazil doubled the score, 16-8. In a high state of mind, Italy reacted, but Darlan was once again decisive and took the duel to a tie-break with 25-17.

With tension at its height, the two teams had a lot of difficulty serving during the tie-break. The Brazilian team ultimately made fewer mistakes and secured the Olympic berth thanks to an ace from Lucarelli.