The men's national team recently defeated their Asian rival Iran and advanced to the final tournament of the Olympic Games for the first time in 29 years. Their first opponent in the tournament will be Brazil, the gold medalist at the Rio Olympics and world number one. Before that match, we'll introduce you to the Brazilian men's team!
Brazilian Member
Number Name Position/Age/Height/Highest achievement Club
#1 Bruno Rezende (C) S 34/ 190/ 323 Modena (Italy)
#5 Mauricio Borges OH 32/ 199/ 335 Vibo Valentia (Italy)
#6 Ferdinand Kreling S 25/ 185/ 319 Sada Cruzeiro
#8 Wallace de Souza OP 33/ 198/ 344 Sada Cruzeiro
#9 Yolandi Leal OH 32/ 202/ 361 Modena (Italy)
12 Isaac Santos MB 30/ 208/ 339 Sada Cruzeiro
13 Mauricio Souza MB 32/ 209/ 344 Minas
14 Douglas De Souza OH 25/ 199/ 338 Vibo Valentia (Italy)
16 Lukas Saatkamp MB 35/ 209/ 340 Volei Renata
17 Thales Ossu L 31/ 190/ 320 Taubate
18 Lucarelli Souza OH 29/ 196/ 348 Civitanova (Italy)
21 Alan Souza OP 27/ 202/ 336 Kemerovo (Russia)
Directed by: Renan Dalzotto
Main starting lineup
Outside hitters: 9 Real, 18 Lucarelli
Middle blockers: 13 Souza, 16 Lucas
Opposite: 8 Wallace
Setter: 1 Bruno
Libero: 17 Thales
Qualifying (Pool B) Results
- Tunisia 3:0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-15)
- Argentina: 3:2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 16-14)
- Russia 0:3 (22-25, 20-25, 20-25)
- vs. USA 3:1 (30-32, 25-23, 25-21, 25-20)
- France 3:2 (25-22, 37-39, 25-17, 21-25, 20-18)
4 wins, 1 loss, 10 points, 2nd place in Pool B
Team characteristics: Setter Bruno plays as the core and three destructive wings participate equally in the attack
Gold medal at the last Rio Olympics. Gold medal at this year's Nations League. Brazil is the absolute champion of men's volleyball, having held the number one spot in the world rankings for almost 20 years now. This Tokyo Olympics will be the first Olympics since the team was replaced by Renan Dal Zotto, who took over from the legendary coach Bernardo Rezende, who had been in charge for 15 years since 2001.
The center of the team is the captain and spiritual pillar, the setter.BrunoHe is the son of former coach Bernardo Rezende. He is a veteran player who has been playing as the main setter for the Brazilian national team for over 10 years since being selected for the senior national team in 2007, and this will be his fourth Olympic appearance. He has won two silver and one gold medals, and his skills and experience are well-known. He is also respected by many volleyballers for his exceptional captaincy and wonderful personality. At Modena in the Italian Serie A, he was teammates with Japanese player Ishikawa.
Setter Bruno
The three players on the wings, Wallace, Leal and Lucarelli, responded to Bruno's toss and produced a lot of points. Brazil's ball was distributed almost equally to these three players, making it difficult for them to narrow down their target.Wallaceis known for his light and quick jump spikes. He also has a wide range of shots, and when he has an opening, he hits a powerful spike straight down.Realis a naturalized Cuban player, and is the number one in terms of height and power among the star-studded Brazilian national team. His destructive spikes and serves are incredible, and once he gets going, he is unstoppable. In the Italian Serie A, he also contributed greatly to his team Roubaix winning the league. Another outside hitter,LucarelliHe plays a defensive role on the Brazilian national team, and together with libero guardian Tarres, he is a central figure in the defense, but he also has great offensive power. His serve has been particularly good in this tournament, scoring eight aces in five qualifying matches. His performance on both offense and defense is the lifeline of the current Brazilian national team.
Lucarelli, the key player in Brazil's offense and defense
Another thing to note is the middle blockerLucasAlthough he is tall at 209cm, he is mobile, has great blocking ability, a decisive quick kick, and a powerful serve, making him a model for the modern midfielder. His combination with Blue, who he has played with for the national team and club for over 10 years, is perfect, and his C-quicks and tricky attacks during rallies are a threat to opponents and also excite the crowd.
Solution: First, crush Real Madrid with their serves
Brazil is the absolute champion, and it seems so perfect that there is no gap for exploitation, but that doesn't mean they can't win 100%. In fact, in the qualifying round for the Tokyo Olympics, they lost to Russia in straight sets, and although they won against Argentina and France, they were forced to play in full sets. What Brazil has in common when they are cornered is when they target Real with their serves and are able to hold him down. Compared to fellow outside hitter Lucarelli, Real is not very good at defense, so his serve reception is more likely to be disrupted than the other two, and if his reception is not good, it will have a negative effect on his spikes and he will make mistakes. However, Brazil knows this, so they are taking care of Real's defensive range with Lucarelli and libero Tarres, but if they can still target him strictly and keep him returning strong serves, their chances of winning will increase significantly. The ideal situation is to keep hitting Real with serves and send him to the bench, but even if they can't do that, they can continue to put pressure on him and gain an advantage in the game.
Of course, the opponent is normally super strong, so the aim is to receive the opponent's super powerful bullet serve well and consistently side out. In this year's Nations League, Japan was defeated by Brazil 0-3 (20-25, 16-25, 20-25). First of all, if we cannot maintain a high side out rate, we may repeat the same mistake. However, Nishida was not there at that time, and I think the other members have improved their level considerably since then.
Judging from the matches so far, Japan's Yamamoto and Takahashi have been extremely stable in their serve reception, so I'm sure they'll put up a good fight. It would also be good if they could score with their quick middle serve. The marking of Brazil's quick serve will be tough, but I hope Japan's middle serveers will attack boldly. I also want Ishikawa to serve hard from the first set, like he did in the fifth set against Iran, and I hope Nishida, who hasn't had any notable serves in this tournament, will awaken on this day. Or rather, without him awakening, Brazil's victory would be impossible.
To be honest, the chances of winning the match against Brazil are extremely low. But I feel like the current Japanese national team can do something. I can't help but feel that way. Defend tightly and hit with serves! Face Brazil with 120% of your strength! Fight!
Quarterfinals broadcast schedule
August 3rd (Tue) 13:00~ Japan vs Brazil
Television broadcast
- NHK General 13:00~
Webcast
Photo: FIVB
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