))
ROUND FIVE COMPLETED
FIVB World League 2005
Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26, 2005. Champions for the past two years Brazil will defend their crown in the Final Round in Belgrade after securing the Pool A ticket following two straight set victories over Japan in Sao Paulo during Week Five of the Intercontinental Round, whilst their closest rivals Portugal split their matches with Venezuela. Portugal needed to do the double in Caracas and after completing an
excellent 3:0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-22) win on Friday, they collapsed badly
as Venezuela triumphed 3:0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-19) on Sunday, eliminating
Portugal from the race. With one round (two matches) still to play,
Pool A sees Brazil on top (9-1), Portugal second (6-4), Venezuela third
(5-5) and Japan still searching for their first win.
Meanwhile, the race for Final Round tickets in Pools B and C will go down to the wire.
In Pool B, Cuba and Italy are neck and neck after the 2004 silver
medallists fought back from a 3:0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-21) defeat on
Friday with an impressive 3:1 (25-20, 23-25, 29-27, 25-19) win in
Havana in front of 16’000 fans. The eight-time World League champions
now sit level with Cuba with six wins and four losses, although Cuba is
ahead with a better set average. Bulgaria (4-6) and France (4-6) are
also still in contention after they split both their matches including
an epic 3:2 (21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11) win to France on Sunday.
Cuba hosts France next weekend whilst Italy travels to Bulgaria.
Pool C continues to keep fans on the edge of their seats heading into
the final weekend after Serbia & Montenegro silenced over 11’000
local fans when they pipped Poland on Saturday in a marathon five-set
cliff hanger 3:2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-10) in Katowice.
Poland had beaten Serbia & Montenegro on Friday 3:1 (20-25, 25-17,
25-23, 25-20) moving them to a 7-3 record, however, second placed
Greece couldn’t capitalize after they split their matches with
Argentina including a 3:1 (15-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20) defeat on
Sunday. Greece are 5-5 and must beat Serbia and Montenegro twice next
weekend and hope Poland trips up in Argentina for any chance of
reaching the Final Round.
For much more on the 2005 World League visit
www.fivb.org
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