Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 14, 2016 - Brazil are with their backs against the wall, in danger of crashing out of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men's volleyball tournament, after a devastating defeat at the hands of a brilliant Italy in front of a passionate sellout crowd at the Maracanazinho Saturday night.
At the completion of round 4 in pool play, Italy secured the pole position in Pool A, set to clash with the fourth-ranked team of Pool B. But the other three qualifying spors from the so-called 'pool of death' are wide open ahead of Monday's closing round. Out of France, Canada, Brazil and USA one will have to join Mexico in going home.
Italy dashed the hopes of Brazil gaining an early ticket with a very convincing
3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-15) win that keeps them the only undefeated team across the board.
Previously, USA had shown a remarkable recovery after loosing their two opening matches, scoring their second straight victory,
3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 25-22) over France. And Canada got the job done with a a href="http://rio2016.fivb.com/en/volleyball/men/7147-canada-mexico/post">3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-22 sweep of winless Mexico.
By contrast, all four quarterfinal tickets from Pool B have now been booked, with Argentina, Poland, Russia and Iran advancing to the knockout stage and Egypt and Cuba taking the way home.
Argentina demolished Cuba
3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-16) to nicely place themselves for a top position finish if they beat Egypt on the closing day. This would directly place the South Americans against the fourth-ranked team from Pool A for the quarterfinals.
In other Pool B action, Iran swept Egypt
3-0 (28-26, 25-22, 25-16) and Russia outlasted Poland
3-2 (25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13) to secure the last quarertfinals spot.
Men's pool play at the Rio 2016 Olympics concludes Monday. The top ranked team of each pool will face the fourth-ranked of the other. A drawing of lots will determine the pairings of the second- and third-ranked teams. The draw will take place in the Maracanazinho Press Conference Room immediately after the end of the last match, Monday night, between Brazil and France.
Summary Statistics - Men’s Tournament Rio 2016
Highest Scorer by Day21 – Facundo Conte of Argentina v Iran on August 7
23 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Iran on August 9
21 – Earvin Ngapeth of France v Canada on August 11
36 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Russia on August 13
Top Scoring Performances36 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Russia on August 13
25 – Antonin Rouzier of France v United States on August 13
23 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Iran on August 9
22 – Aaron Russell of United States v Italy on August 9
21 – Facundo Conte of Argentina v Iran on August 7
21 – Earvin Ngapeth of France v Canada on August 11
21 – Shahram Mahmoudi of Iran v Egypt on August 13
21 – Earvin Ngapeth of France v United States on August 13
Top Individual Blocking Performances8 – Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Poland on August 9
8 – Artem Volvich of Russia v Egypt on August 11
5 – Facundo Conte of Argentina v Iran on August 7
5 – Pablo Crer of Argentina v Russia on August 9
5 – Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Cuba on August 11
5 – Graham Vigrass of Canada v Mexico on August 13
5 – Emanuele Birarelli of Italy v Brazil in August 13
Top Individual Service Performances4 – Ricardo Lucarelli of Brazil v Mexico on August 7
Top Team Blocking Performances17 – Russia v Egypt on August 11
13 – Iran v Poland on August 9
13 – Iran v Cuba on August 11
13 – Argentina v Cuba on August 13
13 – Italy v Brazil on August 13
11 - Italy v France on August 7
11 – Argentina v Russia on August 9
11 – Brazil v Canada on August 9
11 – Italy v Mexico on August 11
11 – United States v France on August 13
Top Team Serving Performances10 – Egypt v Cuba on August 9
9 – Brazil v Mexico on August 7
Highest Scoring Sets37-35 Poland v Argentina (3rd Set) on August 11
31-29 Iran v Cuba (2nd Set) on August 11
28-26 Italy v United States (1st Set) on August 9
28-26 Iran v Egypt (1st Set) on August 13
26-24 Argentina v Iran (2nd Set) on August 7
26-24 Canada v Brazil (1st Set) on August 9
Highest Scoring Matches217 – Poland d Iran 3-2 (25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 18-16) on August 9
202 – Russia d Poland 3-2 (25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-10) on August 13
195 – Italy d United States 3-1 (28-26, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23) on August 9
Quick links - Volleyball:Rio 2016 Olympic Games - VolleyballRio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball scheduleRio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball - Teams - MenRio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball - Teams - Women
Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball - Media GuideRio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball history