MATCH INFO

Sapporo, Japan, November 12, 2011 - Press Conference, Italy v Brazil: After a hard-fought win against China on Saturday, Brazil’s luck ran out against the undefeated Italian team on Sunday in Sapporo. Italy looks on to Serbia on Sunday, while Brazil will go up against the host Japan.

Italy coach Massimo Barbolini: I’m really happy because today we beat one of the strongest team in the world. I think we are returning to the kind of Italy that can receive, defend, and fight for every ball. That’s important as we move on. Tomorrow will be difficult against Serbia, the European champions. They have some young players, but they are very strong players. So we have to think about the match tomorrow.

On Italy’s blocking: I think that our blockers worked very well. It’s always difficult to play against Brazil, but I think we had order in our blocking so our defense could do the other things. Blocking without confusion led to good work on defense. So everything went well. It is not possible to win 3-0 against Brazil if its not perfect.

Italy captain Eleonora Lo Bianco: I’m really satisfied and very happy because I think we played a very good match, winning against such a strong team in Brazil.

Italy player Carolina del Pilar Costagrande: It was a really great match. We didn’t make many mistakes. Brazil’s play was not as it usually is; they were not at their best. That’s why it wasn’t a close game. But of course we had less mistakes, and our performance was better than yesterday. That’s why we won today.

Brazil coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes: Congratulations to the Italian team. They played a very good match; better than us all the match, and of course they got a good result. Our team lost many opportunities to win some points in the first and third set - especially at 22-16 until 22-21 - when we missed a counter-attack opportunity. But when you make many mistakes against Italy its difficult to play.

On facing Japan: We have Japan tomorrow, and I know they’re missing two important players in Kaori Inoue and Ai Yamamoto. We’re missing three - Jaqueline, Natalia, and Garay - so we have the same problem as Japan here. We will try to do our best.

On Brazil’s first set rhythm: I think Italy played better than us at the beginning, and indeed for all the match — not only in the first, second, or third.

Brazil captain Fabiana: We’d like to congratulate the Italians. We weren’t in the best condition today, and our rhythm was off. We usually play with emotion and enthusiasm, but it didn’t show today. That’s why we couldn’t get things going.