Bruno Rezende was one of the main servers of Brazil against Iran
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 16, 2016 - In the first match of the 2016 World League Group 1, pool hosts Brazil defeated Iran in straight sets, impressing the rivals with the powerful serve. One of the Brazil's best scorers, Ricardo Lucarelli emphasizes that the match was only one of the three challenges for his team this weekend.
Raul Lozano, coach of Iran: “We did not play as well as we are used to, mainly in the first and second sets. Brazil’s service caused many difficulties to us. The third set was our best, but it was not enough to get the victory.”
Bruno Rezende, captain of Brazil: “In modern volleyball the service is a key skill to disable the opponent’s side-out. Sometimes, in order to inflict this kind of aggressive service, we need to take some risks. Today our service worked well, but we are still looking for the perfect interaction among us. The important thing is that we started our World League journey with a victory over a tough opponent.”
Saeid Marouf, captain of Iran: “We are still recovering from the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan. It is not an excuse, but had some effects on us. Brazil is such a great team and we faced many difficulties in the defence and reception today.”
Ricardo Lucarelli, wing spiker of Brazil: “Iran is a tough team with a great defense volume. We are happy with this first victory, but we still have another two challenges ahead of us. Today our service was important and we have been focusing on that developing that skill since the first day of practice.”