Alan looking to return to his MVP form

The 2019 FIVB Volleyball World Cup was marked by Alan Souza’s breakthrough. Not widely known outside his native Brazil before the start of the tournament, the opposite put on a stellar performance in Japan, leading the South Americans to gold with his MVP performance.

With international play suspended for 18 months, Alan is wearing his country’s national team jersey for the first time after that tournament at the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Nations League. And he’s already been able to notice the difference from his pre-MVP days.

“I can tell opponents know my game better now and also how to prepare to play against me,” he admitted. “That makes things more difficult, for sure, but at the same time, it’s a nice challenge. The greatest players are the ones who thrive in situations like this, so that’s something I’ve been trying to do during the VNL.”

Like his teammates in the Brazilian team, Alan has been heavily rotated in and out of the team’s lineup, but he has had moments in which he was back to his top form, including in two of the team’s most important matches as he scored 19 points against Serbia and 12 against the United States.

The opposite expects his return to the national team will help him regain his best form ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, which will mark his first appearance at the Games. The 27-year-old hitter is coming from an injury-plagued club season with Sada Cruzeiro Volei and is gradually getting back to his top form during the VNL.

“It feels great to be back with the national team after more than a year,” he said. “Unfortunately I had a few injuries with Sada Cruzeiro, but I’ve been able to get my body right and work on it ahead of the VNL. I’m not 100 per cent yet, but I’m getting there.”

When Alan is fully healthy, Brazil will again have one of the scariest combos in the opposite position, including him and his idol and Rio 2016 Olympic champion Wallace de Souza. The two world-class players have very different styles, which puts Brazil in a great position regardless of their opponents.

“It’s great that we get to have two players of our level in that position,” Alan, who will play next season in Russia with Kuzbass Kemerovo in Russia, commented. “But the truth is that we have great depth in every position. Having a strong roster and being able to rotate players without missing anything has long been one of Brazil’s main strengths and that’s been the case during this VNL too.”