Superb display by Wallace De Souza to push Brazil to a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Canada
Curitiba, Brazil, July 4, 2017 - Wallace De Souza emerged once again as the key player for Brazil as the home team defeated a resistant Canada 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 25-19, 25-19) at 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League Finals opening match in a fantastic Arena da Baixada in Curitiba.
Opposite Wallace topped the charts with 18 points, supported by teammates Ricardo Lucarelli and Lucas Saatkamp who added 12 and 11 respectively. Canada enjoyed a similar variety of scorers - Graham Vigrass (15), John Gordon Perrin (14) and Sharone Vernon-Evans (13), but their output wasn’t enough to provide a shock to the loud yellow-dyed local fans.
The result awarded Brazil three points and propelled them to Pool J1 top spot. While crowd-favourites are now only one step away from the semifinals, Canada are in a do-or-die situation as they must defeat Russia on Day 2 first game, at 3.05 PM (local). Brazil will get a day off on Wednesday.
Quick links - Volleyball:
Canada presented a spirited fight, but Brazil still bounced back from adverse situations several times, such as a 6-2 advantage at the opener. The second set eluded this trend, thanks to the efforts of Perrin and Vernon-Evans, but the hosts were unbreakable at the decisive moments of the remaining chapters to nail the win.