Izmir, Turkey, June 18, 2016 – The Netherlands will be looking to end Portugal’s run of four FIVB Volleyball World League wins on Saturday when they clash in the 2016 edition of the men’s premier annual volleyball tournament.
Head-to-Head
· These teams have met each other 14 times in competitive matches. Each side has won seven times.
· This is the 11th meeting in the World League. Portugal have won four of the previous 10 matches.
· Portugal's last win at the World League came against Netherlands when they prevailed after five sets last year.
· Netherlands won the first three meetings last year before Portugal won the final match-up 3-2.
· Portugal have beaten Netherlands by 3-0 on two occasions. Both were at the European Championships (1948 and 1951). Netherlands have beaten Portugal four times in straight sets.
Portugal
· Portugal started their 2016 World League campaign with a 3-1 loss against Turkey.
· Since the start of the 2015 World League, Portugal have won only one of their 13 matches in the competition (3-2 against Netherlands).
· The last time Portugal claimed the first set in a World League match was against Netherlands (11 matches ago).
· Alexandre Ferreira scored 23 of Portugal's 81 points against Turkey on Friday.
Netherlands
· Netherlands kicked off the 2016 World League with a 3-1 victory over Slovakia after losing the first set.
· Netherlands won their opening match for the 12th time. On only three occasions, they lost their second match after winning the opening match.
· Since the start of the 2015 World League, Netherland have won 10 of their 13 matches in the competition.
· Maarten van Garderen and Kay van Dijk both scored a team-high 16 points against Slovakia.