Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 10, 2016 - The teams of Brazil and Japan will close the third competition day of the women’s volleyball tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The stands at the Maracanazinho will once again attract the local sports fans to root for their home favourites towards another Pool A win.
The Brazilians are comfortably occupying the top of the pool standings with a perfect record of two straight-set victories so far. After Cameroon, the hosts shut out Argentina by 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-11) on Monday, with Sheila Castro contributing 14 points.
"Our win was good, but we will need to be better to play against Japan, and to be better to play at night,” Brazilian player Gabi Guimaraes said and made an unusual comment. “Before the next match we need to eat a lot of pasta and fruit to be ready to play well."
Japan fell to Korea on Saturday, but then rebounded with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-17) win against Cameroon to step up to the third place in the current pool standings. Miyu Nagaoka was the best scorer of the match with 16 points.
“I am happy for this victory, but the tournament is just beginning. Our next match is against Brazil and that makes you put your mind in that game,” captain Saori Kimura said.
This will be the second official match between Brazil and Japan in Rio de Janeiro this year. On June 10, the home team achieved a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-15) victory over their Asian opponents in an FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016 encounter.