Brazil captain Bruno Rezende celebrates with Lucarelli
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 21, 2016 – Brazil captain Bruno Rezende was proud of their gold medal victory after some critics doubted their capability to reach the top podium in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the gold medal victory is proof that they do it.
Bernardo Rezende, Coach of Brazil:
“I'm happy for Bruno, for everything that was said about him, especially in Beijing. I'm also happy for the athlete that he is. He was a warrior, the brain of the team.
"The Bruno and Lucao (Saatkamp) pair was unstoppable, and Wallace (De Souza) entered the hall of the great players in our history."
Bruno Rezende, Captain of Brazil:
"We deserved this medal so much. It's much more special to do it at home, it's a magical moment. Everything we went through and now we are Olympic champions. This generation was said to be chokers. After so many silvers, now we're gold.
"It's something huge for me and our family. My father and I went through so many frustrations together. He really deserved this. People used to say he was a nepotist."’
Gianlorenzo Blengini, Coach of Italy:
"It's a big disappointment because we fought (hard) for three sets. The guys have done something extraordinary. They loved what they were doing. They risked it all. I knew the team had qualities and we were continuing to improve, but our sport is unpredictable. To be the coach of this national team is a unique emotion."
Emanuele Birarelli, Captain of Italy:
“We are very proud of our silver, but upset because we could have played better. In the second set at crucial moments we were a bit unlucky. If we played better and won one set, who knows what could have happened.
"We played great volleyball. We are the second best in the world and we have to be proud of that.
"It was not a good day for our serve; maybe we wanted to finish the point too much in a hurry. We needed to be more calm, but it was the final. We had used all our energy."