Press release

London, Great Britain, August 10, 2012 - At the end of the semifinal, the brazilian setter Bruno Rezende said: "I think we were very big today. We had a lot of patience when they served strongly. I think the second set was one of the best that we have had in the last four years. Our mind and aggression were the weapons we needed today. Italy is always a very strong team. It was always important to play point by point and think about all the details of the match. Tonight the difference was our head. We didn't lose it.”

The Italian libero Andrea Giovi explained: "We have to put the loss aside as soon as possible. There is still the bronze medal match to play. We had some mistakes, they did really good. It is an Olympic semifinal, there are many factors (affecting the game). We have to reset our minds. We have 48 hours to do it."

"This is the correct final: Russia v Brazil” said Italian coach Mauro Berruto to the press after the match. “I have some regrets, especially for the first set, because we started very slowly in attack. The second set was difficult to manage. In the third we spiked better, but it was not enough. The limits of our team equals the strengths of the other team. From tomorrow we need to write in our brain that there is an Olympic medal to earn.”

Coach Bernardinho Rezende was really happy at the end of the game: “It's amazing. It is hard to explain, obviously we have played them (Russia) before, but we know this match will be different, more difficult. They are a strong team and they played well in the quarterfinal. We are glad we are here, though, we really want the gold medal. It will be very hard.”