Rio de Janeiro, August 15, 2016 – With Argentina already guaranteed a place in the quarterfinals and Egypt also out, the South American side will see their clash on Monday as a chance to prepare and better their draw come the quarterfinals.
Julio Velasco’s side have dropped just one set in this campaign – to Russia in their second match – and have looked incredibly strong during the pool stages. They have only won one medal at an Olympics previously, a bronze in 1998, and will hope to use this match as a stepping stone to another.
For Egypt, it is all about ending on a high. They failed to progress from the group stages four years ago at London 2012 and it is the same story in Rio. However, the history books offer little comfort as the side have never beaten Argentina at a tournament and have never scored more than one set against them. Their last encounter was at the 2015 FIVB Men’s World Cup where they went down in three sets.
Could they put a fly in Argentina’s ointment on the grandest stage of them all?