Portugal outperformed Cuba in blocking by 11-7 in kill blocks, but also showed better accuracy on the court with 23 unforced errors against 31 from the opponent. Marques registered a 65% success rate in attack and delivered the match winner with a successful swing. He also added two aces and two kill blocks to his tally. Middle blocker Filip Cveticanin raised four stuffs and spiked at a 71% success rate to finish with 14 points. Opposite Jose Pinto also scored 14 points, including three kill blocks.
“We stepped onto the court with a bit of a ‘let’s see what’s going on’ attitude, but then, step by step, we saw that we got an opportunity here. OK, it’s Cuba, but it’s not that Cuba that we saw in the VNL or on our preparation videos, so we just focused on what we had studied, we kept straight and everybody believed it was possible, so congratulations to the whole team! I am super happy for my teammates,” Portugal’s brightest star and team captain Alexandre Ferreira, who did not take part in the match, told VBTV. “For us, this kind of games are everything or nothing. We have nothing to lose here. We are just enjoying the moment and the fans, but as soon as we see we have a small opportunity, we are going to take it. This is what happened today…”
Cuba matched Portugal in number of successful spikes, with 48 each and outdid them from the serving line by 7-5 in aces. Outside Marlon Yant also matched Marques’s 19 points (two aces, two blocks) to share the best scorer honors of the game with him. Opposite Jose Masso produced 12 points. Outside and captain Miguel Lopez added another 11.
