Players and fans alike were anxiously looking forward to the weekend matches between the "Blue Boys" of Serbia and the world No. 1 Brazilians in the World League.
The Sports Halls in Belgrade and Novi Sad are expected to be packed out with fans, with tickets hard to come by. The National Teams of Serbia and Brazil have played each other 14 times in the World League, of which Serbia have won just two, the last time at the Final Round in Rotterdam in 2000. Their first two encounters played in Sao Paulo on the first weekend of this years' edition thrilled the crowd, with both going to a spectacular five sets. Serbia and Brazil have played their most interesting matches in the World League Finals. The Final match in the 2003 World League in Madrid between the two sides went down as one of the best matches in Volleyball history. Brazil claimed the title by winning 31-29 in the fifth set. Serbia and Brazil played in 2005 in Belgrade in the World League Final in front of 18,240 fans, a record number for the World League Final Round. Brazil won that match, too. This time around, Serbia need two victories over Brazil to keep their hopes alive for the Final Round in Rio de Janeiro. On Thursday, in Hotel "M" in Belgrade, the Press Conference was held with the representatives of both Brazilian and Serbian Teams commenting on the upcoming World League matches between two sides in Belgrade and Novi Sad. However, Brazil will surely make us do our best, playing against them gives you great motive and they are big inspiration for everyone. I hope we have two good matches and thrilling games, and if we believe very hard I think we can win. It will be very, very difficult. We need support from everyone even if we play poorly sometimes. All volleyball fans who watched matches in Brazil know how they supported their team and they understand of what importance the crowd is for every team playing at home. Mr. Igor Kolakovic, Serbian Head Coach, said. I expect two tough matches, we know very well the quality of Serbian players, and I’m sure they would be backed up by the huge crowd, because Serbian passion for volleyball is very famous. We started in 2001 this cycle, and I admit that we had the Serbian team who won the gold medal at the Olympic games in 2000 as a great inspiration. For us is an honour to be here and we hope to play well and improve our game match by match. Mr. Bernardo Resend, Brazilian Head Coach, said. Although The Brazils are playing for nothing, they are 1st in group A with record 5-1, France 4-2 and Serbia 2-4. The Serbians still have big chances because the second team of this group A will qulaify for the finals, cuz the Brazils are home side in World League finals. In last matches of group A Serbia will play at home with France. I remember in France, the Serbs have won second match categorically 0:3. I think Serbia will win today. My pick is Serbia.
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