The advantage and/or pressure could go either way. Argentina will be trying capitalise on their advantage while Portugal cannot afford to drop any more points at home if they want to position themselves for qualification to the final phase of the FIVB Volleyball World League.

Regarding Saturday’s match, Portugal coach Juan Diaz promised: “We will fight for the victory. We want to win, but we are aware that we need to play better, have more stability and present a more consistent game. And we have to make sure the players recover psychologically.”

Argentina coach Javier Weber said it was important that his players did not become complacent: “The players must keep up their match rhythm. In this initial stage, all the teams are looking for stability. We need to maintain this level in tomorrow’s match, since we know that each game has a different story.”