Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 10, 2016 - The only two yet unbeaten teams in Pool B of the men’s volleyball tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will settle the issues in a direct face-to-face encounter. In the third match at the Maracanazinho on Thursday, Poland will meet Argentina an at the end of that game only one of these sides will remain undefeated.
On Tuesday, Poland persevered to overcome Iran with a narrow 3-2 (25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 18-16) win and are taking the second place in the current pool standings with 5 points. Bartosz Kurek was the best scorer of this match with a 23-point contribution.
“It was a great volleyball match and an important step towards the quarterfinals for us,” exclaimed Poland’s coach Stephane Antiga.
Argentina confirmed the great first impression they left with the straight-set win against Iran on Sunday with an even more prestigious victory on Tuesday – 3-1 (25-18, 18-25, 25-18, 25-21) against defending Olympic champions Russia. Opposite Bruno Lima made 16 points and became the best scorer of that match.
However, coach Julio Velasco stands firmly on the ground. “We moved closer to the quarterfinals, but still have matches to play,” he said. “My advice to my players is to find the correct balance between confident and humble and stay that way...”
On June 26 of this year, Poland managed a thrilling 3-1 (26-24, 31-29, 36-38, 25-22) victory over Argentina at home in Lodz in an FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 match. A four-set victory by 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 27-25) for Poland was the result the two teams produced when they met for an FIVB Volleyball World Cup 2015 game in Hamamatsu, Japan on September 10.