Hiroshima, Japan, October 15, 2019 - Champions Brazil wrapped up their 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup triumph in style on Tuesday, Isac Santos top-scoring with 14 points as they beat Italy 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-15) at Hiroshima Green Arena to ensure they ended the competition unbeaten.
Brazil coach Renan Dal Zotto: “I’m really happy with today’s win and also really happy about winning this competition. We expected today’s match to be a difficult one as we had secured the title the day before and so I was expecting it to be difficult in terms of motivation. That was why I started with members who played mainly in the Nations League and South American Championship. This year we were focused on two competitions. One was the Olympic qualifying tournament and the other was this World Cup. Here I thought about the renewal of the members and also trying different compositions for the team. So I tried different members and positions, and now I’m beginning to see who should be used in next year’s Olympic Games.”
Brazil captain Bruno Rezende: “I’m really happy because even after winning the gold medal yesterday we showed our character with the young players playing really well, really focused from the beginning. Being the champion undefeated in this really tough tournament was really difficult. We made it, so I’m really happy and I’m really proud of the work we did this year. I think it was really good preparation for the next year, which is going to be the most important moment in this cycle.”
Brazil player Felipe Roque: “It is really good that we were able to win today’s match, we were 100 percent in our performance. It’s good that Brazil has been able to win all of the matches in this competition. In this match we made many position changes but were still able to show the character of Brazil.”
Italy coach Gianlorenzo Blengini: “I’d like to offer words of congratulations to Brazil. Congratulations to them because not only did they win today’s match but they also won the whole competition. It is very difficult to win a tournament like this undefeated. Your team has to have quality technically and also mentally. To also not lose any matches is a very big achievement. It’s not just their individual players - as a team they improved a lot in this competition - but I think Alan Souza in particular improved a lot. Today we had a very difficult match. We started with the players who had had relatively few opportunities so far in the competition. The third set was especially tough for us. At the beginning of the third set things seemed ok, however, the service from Isac Santos was very difficult to cope with. So, once again, congratulations to Brazil.”
Italy player Daniele Lavia: “We knew this was going to be difficult from before the match, and Brazil are so good in service and also the Olympic champions. Our team was able to show good volleyball on some occasions too, and for that I’m satisfied. However, this was a difficult match, especially the third set.”