Brazil secured their spot among the top eight teams of the FIVB Volleyball U21 Men’s World Championship. On day two of the tournament, the South Americans shut out Canada to make sure they finish among the best two teams in Pool D, leaving their North American opponents and Russia to battle it out for the other vacancy on Saturday at the Levski Sofia volleyball hall in Bulgaria.

After losing to Russia in five sets on the first competition day, Brazil got onto the winning track on Friday and produced a 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-18) clean slate against Canada to advance to the top-tier continuation of the tournament. Counting the forfeit win over Cameroon, they finished their pool campaign on a 2-1 win-loss record and an 8-3 set record, which means the runner-up position in the final pool standings is the worst-case scenario for them.

In the first two sets, the Canadians had the lead for a while, but committing way too many unforced errors (40 for the whole match against only 19 from Brazil) proved costly to them, as it helped Brazil turn things around before cruising comfortably through set three to win the match. What also helped Brazil was their blocking, responsible for nine points, including the set one winner and the match winner. However, Canada outplayed their opponents in both spiking points (36 against 25) and serving aces (three against one). Their Samuel Cooper was the best scorer of the match on 14 points, while none of the winning players reached double digits.

“We came to win this game and to fight for our place on the podium. We were a little disappointed after the game we lost to Russia yesterday. So we needed to focus to get to the next round and to do our best,” Brazil’s setter and captain Gustavo Orlando told Volleyball World.

Quick links:
FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship 2021
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