Brazil and Germany get critical wins and make it to the quarterfinals

Brazil and Germany entered the seventh day of the volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympics looking for wins to advance to the men's quarterfinals and they got what they needed, overcoming Egypt and Argentina on Friday to confirm their presence in the elimination rounds.

The two join Pool A’s Slovenia and France, Pool B’s Italy and Poland and Pool C’s the United States, which had all previously qualified, filling seven of the eight spots in the quarterfinals. Pool A’s Serbia and Pool C’s Japan are the contenders for the final berth in the next round.

After losses to Italy and Poland in Pool A, Brazil celebrated their first victory in Paris on Friday with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-16) triumph over African champions Egypt.

"We're alive," captain Bruno Rezende reacted. "After the pool phase, we know we can play any team in the world at the highest level. We know we're not the top favorites, but that doesn't change anything in our locker room. We still have our goals and we work every day to keep our dream alive. We're not here for fun, we're here to fight for our dream and we'll keep doing it until the end."

With four points and a set ratio of 1.000, the South Americans are guaranteed as one of the two best third-placed teams at the end of the pool phase and remain alive in the race for medals at the South Paris Arena 1.

Opposite Darlan Souza was Brazil's most productive player on the court, ending the match with 15 points (12 kills, two blocks, one ace). Outside hitters Ricardo Lucarelli and Yoandy Leal added 13 and ten, respectively.

"We came into this match knowing we'd need a solid win to advance," middle blocker Flavio Gualberto commented. "Our goal here was to get better every match and I'm confident we'll be ready for the quarterfinals. Although we lost to Italy in our debut, we did a lot of good things in that match and we were able to replicate them against Poland. We played at a high level against two of the top teams in the world and that shows we're headed in the right direction. Our match rhythm improved a lot and I believe we have all we need to perform well in the quarterfinals."

For Egypt, outside hitters Mohamed Issa, with eight points (seven kills, one ace), and Ahmed Azab, with seven (six kills, one ace), led the way.

"Brazil are a very resourceful team and they played the game in the way they wanted," outside hitter Abdelrahman Elhossiny explained. "Coming here to Paris was a great experience for our team as we have a lot of young players in our squad. It was great to get to play these excellent teams and to gain some experience and chemistry as a team. It will be a lesson for us to be better next time. When we saw our pool, we knew it was going to be very difficult to get a win against these teams, but we wanted to play well and work as a team."

Germany sweep Argentina

Germany, who also needed a win to advance, were dominant against Argentina, beating the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalists 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-21) to get their second victory and confirm their permanence in the tournament.

The three points earned with the victory pushed the European to the top of the standings in Pool C with six. That, however, could change later on Friday, when the United States (five points) and Japan (four) meet at the conclusion of the pool’s match schedule in Paris.

The result also made the teams switch places in the FIVB World Ranking with Germany going up to eighth with the 13.79 points they earned, elevating their total to 275.94, while Argentina are now ninth with 266.94 after dropping the same amount.

Paris 2024 – Match Schedule and Results

Star opposite György Grozer led the German offense against the Argentineans, registering a match-high 16 points, with 11 kills, four blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Moritz Karlitzer had his third double-digit performance in Paris, contributing another 13 (eight kills, three aces, two blocks).

“It feels amazing to have qualified,” middle blocker Tobias Krick reflected. “We pushed through what was maybe the toughest pool in the Olympics and we’re super happy with how we played these first three matches. Today, we pushed from the very first point and maybe we just wanted it more. The most difficult matches are yet to come, though. The Olympics are the biggest tournament you can ever play at, we’re in amazing form and want to win something here.”

On the Argentinean side, veteran Facundo Conte, who announced his retirement after the match, led the way with nine points, followed by fellow outside hitter Luciano Vicentín, who came off the bench to add seven.

“We knew we had a very slim chance of qualifying, but to do it we’d need to play our best, which we hadn’t been able to do here yet,” captain Luciano De Cecco commented. “Germany just took the opportunity and played a very good match. This season has been very challenging for us. We qualified in the last week of the VNL and then we started our preparation with some players dealing with injuries. We tried to put all the effort to get here in the best shape we could and we knew that we were going to need a lot of focus to play against these strong teams, but it wasn’t enough. We could have definitely played better.”

Two more matches on Friday

Friday’s schedule at the South Paris Arena 1 will feature two more matches. In the first of them, at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT), Slovenia, who have six points, and France, who have five, will play for first place in Pool A ahead of the elimination rounds.

Later, at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT), Americans and Japanese meet in Pool C. With five points, the United States are already guaranteed in the quarterfinals, while the Asians need to win at least one set to progress regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s duel between Serbia and Canada.

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