Italy top Pool B, Brazil and Serbia &
Montenegro win
 Lausanne,
Switzerland, June 18, 2005 – Last year’s
three World League medalists Brazil,
Italy and Serbia and Montenegro all
collected crucial victories on Saturday
beating Portugal, France and Argentina
respectively in the latest matches of
Round Four of the Intercontinental
Round.
Defending champions Brazil welcomed
Olympic stars Giba and Gustavo back into
their side for the first time in the
competition however, the Olympic and
world champions were still not at their
vintage best despite beating Portugal
3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 20-25, 25-18),
playing at home for the first time, in
front of nearly 20,000 screaming fans in
Brasília.
Pic: Hugo Gaspar (21 points) from
Portugal, tries to find a hole in the
Brazilian defence as Brazil beat
Portugal 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 20-25,
25-18)
Despite the disappointing on court
performance, Brazil still showed
glimpses of their class and their
fighting qualities were best illustrated
in the first set when at 24-20 down,
with Anderson at the service line,
Brazil scored six successive points to
claim the set. The victory sees Brazil
go top of Pool A with six wins in seven
matches while Portugal are now confined
to second place with a 5-2 record and
sets up the second game, which is the
FIVB’s television “ match of week”, on
Sunday 13:00 GMT as another critical
contest.
"We were very inconsistant,” Brazil
coach Bernardinho said. “The best thing
of this game was the bravery and
determination of the team in the first
set"
Meanwhile, in Lyon, an incredible
26-point haul from Michal Lasko helped
Italy beat the home side France 3-2
(21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 15-13) for
their second successive victory over
their European neighbours to move ahead
of Cuba at the top of Pool B. France
stay in third place with a 3-5 record
just ahead of Bulgaria, who play Cuba in
their final match on Sunday.
In Pool C, a typical game-high scoring
effort from Ivan Miljkovic led Serbia
and Montenegro to an impressive 3-1
(22-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-21) win over
Argentina.
Miljkovic’s 19 points marked his first
appearance in the 2005 World League
along with fellow experienced stars
Andrija Geric and captain Nikola Grbic.
Despite their early rustiness, the final
three sets saw them combine well with
their younger teammates to give last
year’s bronze medalists their third win
in seven matches while resigning the
South Americans to their fifth defeat.
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Competition Formula