Tokyo, Japan, June 9, 2019 – Brazil are seeking to keep their perfect win-record, while Japan are looking for their second consecutive wins in Pool 7 of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Argentina – Brazil (June 9, 2019)
Head-to-head
• Argentina have won each of their last two major encounters at world level with Brazil.
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League, Nations League and Grand Champions Cup.
• Argentina had won only three of their first 38 major encounters with Brazil and their current winning streak ended a run of 19 successive major defeats against their neighbours.
• Their most recent major encounter, which took place in the Volleyball Nations League last season, was the only one between these two countries that Argentina managed to win in straight sets in major world level competitions.
Argentina
• After starting the 2019 Volleyball Nations League with two wins, Argentina have now lost their last three VNL matches.
• Argentina could now lose four consecutive VNL matches for the first time since 15 to 22 June 2018 (four in a row).
• Each of Argentina's last three VNL victories came in straight sets. The first of those three victories was a 3-0 win over Brazil last year.
• In the 3-1 defeat against Iran on Saturday, Argentina had four different players scoring at least 10 points: Bruno Lima (18), Martin Ramos (15), Facundo Conte (14) and Ezequiel Palacios (10).
• Conte is Argentina's top scorer at the 2019 VNL on 57 points. In the 2018 VNL, Conte scored a total of 82 points.
Brazil
• Brazil have won each of their five matches at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League. They are one of two teams in the competition with a 100% winning record, alongside France.
• Brazil and France could become the first teams to win their first six matches of a single VNL campaign. In 2018, both United States and Poland won their first five matches of the tournament before both losing their sixth match.
• Brazil could win six consecutive VNL matches for the second time, after a run of seven victories in May-June 2018.
• After a 3-0 win over Japan on Saturday, Brazil could win consecutive VNL matches in straight sets for the second time. In their third, fourth and fifth match in 2018, they beat Germany, Republic of Korea and Japan in straight sets.
• Alan Souza led all players on 16 points in the 3-0 win over Japan. Brazil's top scorer Wallace De Souza (62 points) was rested.
• Both Ricardo Lucarelli Souza (59%) and Wallace De Souza (58%) have at least a 58% success percentage in attacking at the 2019 VNL.
Japan – Iran (June 9, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Japan's 3-1 win against Iran in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League ended a run of three defeats against them at world level major competitions (FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup).
• Japan's Yuji Nishida (21) and Iran's Amir Ghafour (24) were their team's leading scorers in Japan's 3-1 victory over Iran at the 2018 VNL.
• Japan could now win back-to-back world level matches against Iran for the first time.
• Iran won five of their total seven world level matches versus Japan - five wins in a row in between their defeats at the 2009 Grand Champions Cup and the 2018 VNL.
Japan
• Japan won two and lost three of their five matches at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League. In 2018, Japan had three wins and three defeats after six matches.
• Japan were beaten 3-0 by Brazil on Saturday 8 June. Japan suffered consecutive 3-0 VNL defeats once, last year on 8 and 9 June (against Bulgaria and Poland).
• No player managed to score more than seven points for Japan in the defeat against Brazil. Yuki Ishikawa and Tatsuya Fukuzawa both contributed seven points.
• Ishikawa is Japan's top scorer at the 2019 VNL on 69 points.
Iran
• Iran have won four of their five matches at the 2019 VNL, with the exception being a 3-2 defeat against Brazil on Friday 7 June.
• In 2018, Iran had to wait until their 13th match before claiming their fifth victory in the competition.
• Including 2018, Iran have on seven of their last eight VNL matches.
• Amir Ghafour scored 26 points in the 3-1 win over Argentina on Saturday, at least 10 more than any other Iranian player.
• Ghafour is Iran's top scorer at the 2019 VNL on 91 points. In 2018, Ghafour won 126 points for Iran.
• Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi has scored 15 points from stuff blocks in the 2019 VNL.
• With an average of 9.47 per set, Mir Saeid Marouflakrani is one of the top setters in the 2019 VNL.
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