Olympic Games 2004- Press Info

Athens, Greece, August 19, 2004 – World number eight Argentina virtually guaranteed themselves a place in the 2004 Olympic Games men’s Volleyball competition quarterfinals with their third win from three matches after beating Greece 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22) on Thursday.
The South Americans now lead Pool A and with the top four in each of the two pools qualifying for the quarterfinals, which start on Tuesday, Argentina can only be beaten on set ratio. “We move step by step towards the quarterfinals,” said Argentina captain Marcos Milinkovic, who scored a game high 27 points. “Although our group is very tough, I believe that if we play the next matches as we did today we will make it.”
It was a disappointing result for Greece and their fans who packed the Peace and Friendship Stadium to see their stars continue their dream run towards the quarterfinals. The defeat now means the home side sits in equal second place with two victories from three games, level with Sydney 2000 champions Serbia and Montenegro who consigned Tunisia to their third straight defeat with a straight sets (25-16, 25-18, 25-21) win. France, meanwhile claimed their first win in Pool A after beating Poland with surprising ease 25-15, 25-18, 25-17.
In Pool B, Brazil maintained their undefeated streak with a 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 25-19) win over a tough Netherlands side to put them in a similar position to Argentina. With only two more matches remaining in the Preliminary Round both South American sides can only miss out on a quarterfinal spot on set ratio.
“I was very worried as the Netherlands played very well,” Brazil head coach Bernardo Rezende said. “We had a hard time controlling them but our team showed maturity. We are happy to win and we hope to continue this way.”
The victory puts Brazil one win ahead of Italy, who claimed their second victory of the tournament when they beat Australia 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-21) in the day’s opening match and Russia, who beat USA 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-23) in the final match of the day. The Netherlands, with one win, sit just ahead of Australia, who are yet to win a match, at the foot of the table.
The fourth day of the women’s competition resumes on Friday with China playing Germany at 09:00. The other women’s matches see the Dominican Republic play Cuba, Korea take on Japan, Greece host Brazil, Italy play Tunisia and Russia take on USA.

Day Three - Greece, Argentina battle atop Pool A

ATHENS, 18 August – A battle between Pool A leaders Greece and Argentina and a rematch of the traditional rivalry between Russia and the United States headline Thursday's Day Three matches in the Men's Volleyball Tournament at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

At 09:00, Australia opens against Italy, who will be trying to rebound from Tuesday's loss to Brazil. Australia still stands at the bottom of Pool B.

The Netherlands, which beat Russia in its opening match, will try to produce another good performance at 11:00 against Brazil, the only undefeated team in Pool B.

At 14:00, Poland takes on France. Both teams are coming off defeats, with the world number four French still searching for their first win in Pool A.

Serbia and Montenegro is the heavy favourite against Tunisia. The defending champion have a 1-1 record, while Tunisia is winless.

Greece and Argentina go head-to-head at 19:30, each fighting to stay atop Pool A.

Russia faces traditional rival USA at 21:30. Both teams have 1-1 records.

ONS sk/jb