Rome, Italy, October 10, 2010 – Brazil became the FIVB men's world champions for a record-equalling third successive time after proving too good for a young and talented Cuba team, beating the world No8 in straight sets 25-22, 25-14, 25-22 in front of a sold-out PalaLottomatica in Rome on Sunday.

Brazil, the world No1, added to their titles won in 2002 and 2006 with a final victory over a Cuban side who, despite their obvious talent, had no answer to opponents playing at the top of their game. Whatever Cuba tried, Brazil had an answer for it in what was the first final featuring the two nations in an FIVB event. The win was Brazil's eighth in the countries' past nine meetings and 27th in 49 encounters overall.

Brazilians Giba, Dante and Rodrigao joined the Italian elite of Andrea Gardini (current Italy men's assistant coach), Marco Bracci (current Italy women's assistant coach), Ferdinando De Georgi and Andrea Giani as three-time champions (1990, 1994, 1998).

Both Brazil – FIVB World League, Grand Champions Cup and World Cup holders – and Cuba finished the FIVB Men's World Championship with seven victories and two defeats, which included a 3-2 (34-32, 18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12) win by Cuba over Brazil in the first round.

Cuba, the youngest team in the competition, have now won two silver and two bronze World Championship medals to increase their overall medal tally to 22. Brazil have a World Championship record of three gold medals and one silver medal to increase their overall medal tally to 32, behind Russia (43) and ahead of Italy (27).

Earlier, a Serbia side ranked fourth in the world finished off a superb campaign by beating hosts and world No5 Italy 3-1 (25-21, 25-20,26-28, 25-19) for the bronze medal. The win represents Serbia's second World Championship medal after they collected silver in 1998 and their 28th win in 49 matches against the Azzurri. Italy missed the chance to add to their impressive World Championship medal collection, which also includes a silver won in 1978.

What they said
"I am ecstatic to have won this third gold medal in a World Championship," Rodrigao said. "We played an exciting final without ever allowing Cuba to gain momentum. This is a great result for me and all of Brazil, but now our next goal is the Olympics in London."

"This an incredible joy for me once again," Dante said. "Our team is capable of resolving difficult situations and this is probably one of the secrets of our success."

"We played united as a team and as a family and that’s the reason for our victory," Brazil captain Giba said. "This World Championship means a lot to me since it is the last one, so the celebrations will stay with me for a lifetime. We need to work hard for next year's World Cup and also for the Olympic Games, the highest event for any athlete."

"We have played a great match against a great squad," Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende said. "I am very happy about how our team reacted and the strong performance from Vissotto. Cuba's young team had to play against very strong opponents and we also had to control our emotions. We have had some problems during the tournament but we finished by playing a good match.

"This is an incredible group, capable of bettering itself with hard work and practice. With this victory we are now tied on three world titles with Italy who in the past have been our role model. I think the key is that we only focus on the next tournament as the most important one no matter the previous victories," Rezende added, referring to Brazil's long domination. "With that in mind they have reasons to keep working harder. I don’t keep track of the numbers."

"Today's match was our worst in the tournament," Cuba captain Robertlandy Simon said. "We also had a bad game against Serbia in the early rounds but not like today. We couldn't do anything. We tried to serve harder and that didn't work. Brazil played great. The silver medal means a lot for us and in the future we can do better."

Final Standings
1) Brazil
2) Cuba
3) Serbia
4) Italy
5) Russia
6) USA 
7) Bulgaria
8) Germany
9) Argentina
10) Czech Republic
11) France
12) Spain
13) Cameroon, Egypt, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Puerto Rico
19) Australia, Canada, China, Iran, Tunisia, Venezuela

Individual Best Player Awards
Most Valuable Player: Murilo Endres (BRA)
Top Scorer: Iban Perez (ESP)
Best Server: Clayton Stanley (USA)
Best Spiker: Maxim Mikhaylov (RUS)
Best Blocker: Robertlandy Simon (CUB)
Best Setter: Nikola Grbic (SRB)
Best Libero: Ferdinand Tille (GER)

Highest Scorers By Day
Day 1 (1st Rd): 28 points by Antonin Rouzier (FRA) in France’s 3-2 win over the Czech Republic in Turin
Day 2 (1st Rd): 27 points by Maxim Mikhaylov (RUS) in Russia’s 3-1 win over Australia in Modena
Day 3 (1st Rd): 28 points by Fernando Hernandez (CUB) in Cuba’s 3-2 win over Brazil in Verona
Day 4 (2nd Rd): 24 points by Gyrgy Grozer (GER) in Germany’s 3-0 win over Puerto Rico in Catania
Day 5 (2nd Rd): 30 points by Iban Perez (ESP) in Spain’s 3-2 win over Russia in Catania
Day 6 (2nd Rd): 23 points by Ahmed Abdelhay (EGY) in Egypt’s win against Spain in Catania
Day 7 (3rd Rd): 25 points by Murilo (BRA) in Brazil’s win over the Czech Republic in Rome
Day 8 (3rd Rd): 26 points by Ivan Miljkovic (SRB) in Serbia’s win over Russia in Florence
Day 9 (3rd Rd): 28 points by Vladimir Nikolov (BUL) in Cuba’s win over Bulgaria in Florence
Day 10 (Semifinals): 26 points by Iban Perez (ESP) in Argentina’s win over Spain in Florence
Day 11 (Semifinals/Finals): 30 points by Ivan Miljkovic (SRB) in Cuba’s win over Serbia in Rome
Day 12 (Finals): 22 points by Ivan Miljkovic (SRB) in Serbia’s win over Italy in Rome
 
Highest Set Score
34-32 (EGY v JPN in Pool A) (CUB v BRA in Pool B) Both matches played on September 27.

Highest Scoring Matches
233 (BUL v CUB in 3rd Round) 2-3 (25-22, 23-25, 28-26, 28-30, 11-15) played on October 6 in Florence
231 (FRA v BUL in 1st Round) 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 28-30, 19-17) played on September 26 in Turin
230 (CUB v BRA in 1st Round) 3-2 (34-32, 18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12) played on September 27 in Verona
228 (JPN v EGY in 1st Round) 3-2 (32-34. 23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 15-13) played on September 27 in Milan
226 (SRB v CUB in Semifinal (1-4) 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 29-31, 25-22, 14-16) played on October 9 in Rome

Tournament Top Scorers
173 Iban Perez (ESP)
168 Vladimir Nikolov (BUL)
168 Ivan Miljkovic (SRB)
162 Maxim Mikhaylov (RUS)
157 Facundo Conte (ARG)

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Coming soon
The FIVB Women’s World Championship Japan 2010 (October 29 - November 14, 2010)
The FIVB Club World Championships (December 14-21, 2010)  in Doha, Qatar
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships (June 17-26) Rome, Italy