VNL 2025

Brazil shut out Japan to book first ticket to VNL Finals

Brilliant Flavio leads his team to big victory

Published 12:52, 18 Jul 2025

Brazil (BRA) vs. Japan (JPN) men - Pool 9 - Preliminary Phase #52030383

Brazil’s Flavio in attack against Japan

Brazil were the first team to secure a spot next to hosts China at the upcoming men’s Volleyball Nations League Finals in Ningbo. On Friday, they swept the big match with hosts Japan in Chiba and are now sure to finish among the top seven at the end of the Preliminary Phase. The South Americans top the current VNL standings on a 9-1 win-loss record and 26 points, while Japan dropped to fourth place on 7-4 and 20, but still well in contention for a ticket to the quarterfinals.

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In front of the fantastic fans in Chiba, Brazil managed to take out Japan in straight sets, 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 28-26), but not before the home team denied them four match points in set three. Experienced middle Flavio Gualberto headlined the winners’ superb blocking effort with six kill blocks to his name out of the team’s 11. He also showed an excellent 73% success rate in attack to top the charts with a match-high total of 14 points. Opposite Alan Souza hammered the match winner after a brillinat set from Fernando Kreling (Cachopa) to finish with a total of 11 points, including an ace. 21-year-old outside hitter Lukas Bergmann, also came up with an 11-point tally, featuring one kill block.

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“It was an amazing match for us. To play against Japan is always difficult, because they play really well in defense. The atmosphere here today was also amazing for us. We had a really good match against a strong team, so congratulations for everyone and especially the fans, who came here to cheer for Japan and also for Brazil,” Flavio told VBTV. “We have a young team. We have a lot of guys that come inside with new energy and try to push us. So it’s really, really good to play with them. Now we are so excited to go to China and play the Finals. It was our first goal here. We are really happy to get this one, but now we are going for more...”

Also on 11 points to his name, opposite Kento Miyaura was Japan’s leading scorer. His tally included two of Japan’s three aces in the match. Outside Shoma Tomita put away another 10 points for the home side.

Friday’s VNL action moves over to Gdansk and Ljubljana for two matches starting at 16:30 local time (14:30 UTC). Cuba will take on defending VNL title holders and reigning Olympic champions France in Poland, while Ukraine and Serbia lock horns in Slovenia.