Porto, Portugal, July 31, 2014 – Brazil’s Arthur Diego Mariano Lanci and George Wanderley Souto Maior took a firm lead on Thursday in pool B at the FIVB U19 World Championships.
The South-Americans defeated Austria’s Kratz/Pristauz-Telsnigg (21-15, 21-18) and Germany’s top team Rudolf/Stadie (23-21, 21-17) on Thursday and have not lost one set in four games.
Their match against Germany proved to be the toughest so far. It was point-by-point in the first set and the Brazilians needed three set points to win it. The second was a bit easier.
“It was a tough match, but we managed to win it”, George Wanderley said. “Germany also won the other three games, we won the fourth now. In our minds it was the leader of the group match, whoever would win, would be the leader. But we still have Mexico to win.”
Mexico could keep them from finishing first in the final pool match. “We are still in the group, we have to win every match, every set”, George Wanderley said. “Play hard every game.”
During the match against Germany both players took pride in scoring one beautiful shot after the other. They both like to put on a show, practice ‘the art of beach volleyball’, said George Wanderley.
“Yes, because I think that is what beach volleyball is, it’s kind of a show for who is watching and it’s a game that we enjoy playing, so we play with happiness and every point we try to score in a beautiful way.”
Being Brazilian and one of the greatest beach volleyball nations brings that responsibility, but also expectations, he said.
“More or less, we try to not think about the pressure. We only try to play our best volleyball. Whether we win or lose really doesn’t matter, the only thing that matters for us is to play our best on the court.”