Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 14, 2016 - Under normal circumstances, Brazil-Russia would be an enormous clash, but both teams have already qualified for the knockout phase without a loss so far, so Sunday’s match is all about bragging rights.
However, Brazil aren’t interested in compromising in their mission to complete a hat trick of Olympic titles on home soil. So far, they haven’t dropped a set – the only team with a perfect record – and only Korea have managed to push a set against Brazil to extra points when their final set on Friday went to 27-25.
Russia have been comfortable in their four wins, but they did drop a set in their second match against Korea. Japan pushed them to 30-28 in the second set of their match on Saturday, but the reality is Russia have breezed through Pool A – so far.
In their last 10 meetings in major competitions over a six-year span, Brazil have dominated the Russians, winning nine of those matches. The last time Russia beat Brazil was in the Final Round of the 2015 FIVB World Grand Prix. In their only matchup this year, Brazil won 3-0 in the World Grand Prix.
In their last five victories over Russia, the Brazilians have dropped just one set. Form, home advantage and Olympic momentum should give Brazil the advantage in Rio, but Russia may be looking to avenge the 3-2 defeat in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Both teams have talent in depth. Fernanda Rodrigues of Brazil is the second-best spiker in the tournament, Sheilla Castro is ranked second and Natalia Pereira 11th. Russia have been led by Tatiana Kosheleva and Nataliya Goncharova. The top two diggers in the tournament are Russia’s Anna Malova and Brazil’s Leia Henrique, while three Russians make it into the Top 10 servers.