Manama, Bahrain, July 18, 2019 – Brazil commenced their bid in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship with a 3-1 win (25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19) against title-holders Poland in Thursday’s Pool D match at Isa Sport City.
Brazil coach Giovane Gavio: “For the first match, we always tend to be a little bit nervous but we played very well in serve. I think we put pressure on them with this, and also on defence. We knew how to wait for the best moment to close out and win the points. We played well today against Poland, which is one of the most important teams in the world.
“For Brazil, we love to attack, so we need to understand our strengths in defence. Sometimes, we really need to be calm and wait for the ball before we move to attack. Today, we were successful with that.
“It’s a pleasure for me to be here. I have played for many years, and my challenge here is to make the young players understand the beauty of the sport.”
Brazil captain Rhendrick Resley Rosa: “We had a lot of success neutralising most of their main attackers. We started off a bit slow but it’s the first game of the World Championship. We all do, but towards the end, we got to attacking on our own side and we really put pressure on them.
“As the captain and the setter, I try to lead the team in the best possible way, both in motivational and technical aspects of the game.”
Poland coach Michał Bakiewicz: “I though we played well during the first two sets but later on, we started to play without the fullest concentration. By the third set, Brazil began to play really well with strong service and the wing attack. They were better than our team.
“It’s the first game, we have the analyse this and we just have to play better.”
Poland player Remigiusz Kapica: “We had very big expectations about this first match. There were problems with our serve, plus the Brazilians played well in reception.
“We need to concentrate more on sticking to our game plan.”