Goiania, Brazil, June 1 - Eder Carbonera helped lead the way for Brazil as Korea were crushed in straight sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-19) to keep their VNL charge firmly on track.
It was a wonderful homecoming for the Brazilians who delighted an energetic, packed Goiania Arena crowd with a devastating display which saw a superbly encouraging all round performance from Renan Dal Zoto’s side who take on Japan tomorrow aiming for more of the same.
Top scorer Wallace wasn’t even needed so it was left for the excellent Carbonera who ended with 12 points (eight spikes, two blocks and two aces) and Evandro notched 10 points to cap a super show which will need to be replicated when the box office match-up with the USA rolls around on Sunday.
Isac Santos (12 points) displayed his immense power as he spiked with unstoppable force while libero Murilo Endres kept things ticking over nicely.
Korea, as always , battled hard and produced some quality- Jae-Duck Seo (seven points) and Kwang-In Jeon (seven points) were the standout performers yet matching Brazil’s power, panache and athleticism was a bridge too far.
Minsu Jeong also produced some fearless defensive play but it wasn’t enough.
It was always going to be a massive ask for Korea side who arrived in South America off the back of three defeats at the start of this VNL tournament so a meeting with the highest ranked team on the planet was never going to be easy.
You have to go all the way back to 1992 to find the last Korean win over Brazil and after a blistering display from the hosts in the first two sets, the wait was going to ensue.
There were stellar performances from a number of men in yellow - as they closed in on the second set Evandro and Luis Felipe had 15 points between them as the Asian side were simply blown away.
The power of their attacking play in the second - 16 spikes compared to 12 - showed the difference between the teams. The serving quality of Carbonera, eanwhile, helped fire the home side forward with four aces.
Korea, ranked 21 in the world, were refusing to wilt in the third and were hanging in with Kim producing some great blocks to bring his side into an 9-8 lead.
Tha, however, was quickly eradicated and although the Koreans continued to have their moments, the tide was always with Brazil who sealed the win when Leonardo blocked superbly to leave their opponents rock bottom in the VNL and with the USA up tomorrow, it’s not getting any easier.