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Brazil defeat Russia to qualify for the Olympics in Beijing

Brazil's Gustavo Endres, center rear, smashes the ball past Russian blockers Semen Poltavskiy, left front, and Alexander Volkov during their match at the Men's Volleyball World Cup in Tokyo yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

World champions Brazil became the first team to qualify for the Olympics when they defeated Russia in the men's World Cup Volleyball tournament yesterday.

With a 25-22, 25-22, 25-18 victory over the Athens Olympic bronze medalists, Brazil chalked up a ninth win against one defeat to secure one of the top three places in the 12-team round robin competition.

The top three finishers in the tournament qualify for the Beijing Olympics next year.

"Even if we lose tomorrow, we've already qualified, because one of the two teams [either Russia or the US] will get three defeats," Brazil coach Bernardo Resende said.

He said he thought the fact that his team lost its first match in the tournament -- a surprise loss to the US -- may have helped them.

"It was the first time we lost the first match in a big tournament. We lost to the United States and we won the 2002 world championships. We also lost to them in the Olympics and we won the Olympics," Resende said. "We lost to France in the world championships last year and we won. Maybe this team needs something like that. In the first match, there's a lot of pressure, so a lot of things happen."

"But my players always responded so well, so we have to continue to put on them pressure. That's the most important thing as the champions. So I'm very happy to have a team like this," he said.

As for the match, Dante Guimaraes Amaral said the key to their victory was that they could handle the Russian serves.

"Russia are one of the best teams in the world who have so many big servers. Our strategy was to control their serves. When we had several big chances, we took them and we got into our rhythm. That's why we won today," Amaral said.

Brazil take on Japan today to defend the World Cup.

Bulgaria, the US and Russia were fighting for the remaining two Olympic berths.

US captain Thomas Hoff said he hoped his squad could continue their strong play after beating Argentina 25-16, 25-19, 25-18 to improve their win-loss record to 8-2, the same as Russia's.

"I think we came out with a great level of execution in all aspects of our game. Defensively we were extremely efficient. Both sides, offense and defense, were very good," Hoff said.

In other matches, European champions Spain defeated South Korea 25-22, 25-17, 28-26, while African champions Egypt downed Tunisia 25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 25-22.
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