Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 17, 2016 – Brazil will look to continue their good start in the FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 as they take on arch rivals Argentina on Friday.
Head-to-Head
· Brazil and Argentina have faced each other 22 times at the World League, with Brazil winning all matches.
· Against no other opponents has Brazil played that many World League matches without losing a single match.
· Their last meetings in the competition came in 2013: Brazil won both matches in straight sets.
· Brazil and Argentina most recently met in the final of the 2015 South American Championships. Again, Brazil won by 3-0.
· Argentina have recorded only two wins over Brazil in this century - a 3-1 win in the quarterfinals of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and a 3-2 win in the semifinals of the 2012 Pan-American Cup.
Brazil
· Brazil started their 2016 World League campaign with a 3-0 victory over Iran, their first straight sets win against them in the World League.
· Brazil have now won against and lost to Iran three times. They have a positive balance against all other teams they faced at the World League.
· For the first time since 2011 Brazil opened their World League season with a win in straight sets. That season they would also win their second and third match by a 3-0 score line.
· Lucas Saatkamp won most points (17), spikes (12) and serves (4) of any player in the match against Iran.
· Brazil have won the first set in each of their last eight World League matches. They went on to win six of those eight matches.
Argentina
· Argentina lost their opener against USA 3-1. They are now in danger of losing their first two World League matches for the second time in three years, after doing so in 2014. Last year they started with a win.
· Argentina can lose back-to-back World League matches for the first time since losing to Cuba and Canada in May-June 2015.
· In their match against United States Argentina still managed to score 94 points, compared to 98 for their opponents (24-26, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25).