Olympic Games (London, 2012): The day Brazil became champion without having to win a final.
Among the sports that have brought - and still bring - more happiness to the Brazilian public, women's volleyball certainly stands out as one of the best and most important sports (whether nationally or internationally).
These are impressive victories (both in terms of numbers and adrenaline of matches), which put the Brazilian team at an even higher level after the 2012 Olympic Games, where the team won the two-time world championship.
The title came with a win against the United States team (by 3 sets at 1), but it was against the Russian team that emotion was most present in the positive energies emanating from fans around the world.
The reason for this is that a win against the Russians would not only be essential to advance the competition, but also very important to purge the ghost of defeat against them and ultimately boost the self-esteem of the players by overcoming that barrier.
In an extremely electrifying match and fought point to point, what was missing was adrenaline! There were 5 sets (24-26, 25-22, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 19-25, 25-22, 21-19) where the Brazilian women emerged victorious - with 3 sets in favor - after save no less than six match points (offering a true carousel of excitement to the audience)!
Full Match (VIDEO)
Under the command of the competent coach Zé Roberto were the excellent players Fabiana Claudino, Danielle Lins, Paula Pequeno, Adenzia da Silva, Thaisa Menezes, Jaqueline Carvalho, Fernanda Ferreira, Tandara Caixeta, Natalia Pereira, Fabiana de Oliveira and Fernanda Garay.
Undoubtedly, it was a very high level collective effort (something already expected) in which not only the quality of the work mattered, but also, the companionship, the union, the claw and the friendship made all the difference... Not forgetting, of course, the crowd cheers (especially Brazilians)!
The victory in London was epic in many ways, not least because it completely erased the memory of Sokolova and Gamova's failures against Russia in 2004 at the Athens Games semi-finals, and also at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups (when unfortunately, the Brazilian lost to the Europeans in the final).
Wow! Great read! I have watched a lot of games in London Olympics, but missed Volley Balls. Maybe it was because my country, Korea, is not a strong team. Reading your article, I feel I want to watch some of the volleyball games in London. Thanks for your entry! It means a lot to this community!
Thanks, @rokyupjung.
I'm already ready for the next one!