23rd august 2008
Beijing (CHN)


BRAZIL – U.S.A. 3-1 (25/15) (18/25) (25/13) (25/21)


Some defeats are painful like wounds and the only way to heal is winning.
Women’s Volleyball Brazilian team had many scars like the defeats in the previous semi-final Olympic Games and the final of the last World Championship. Today in Beijing, they had the last chance to recover. Probably, the awareness that this was definitely the last chance made them more resolute.
From the technical perspective the match was not terribly impressive, as it often happens in the finals. In the first set USA played poorly, in the second Brazil was missing and in the third the US team disappeared again. Only in the last set did both teams played together until the twentieth point. Then Fabiana and Sheilla blocked the opponents (attacks) twice in a row and the match was over. The Brazilian blocks were the key of the match (they got 16 blocks and the US players 5 only) forcing the opponents to spike softly or to tip.

After Logan Tom´s last hitting mistakes, the Brazilian players joined a big collective hug. A few seconds later all the players, Ze Roberto and the staff, went one by one to Fofao, the Brazilian captain, for a long lasting quiet hug. She is the leader, the mind of the team and she is going to quit the national team.
That was the perfect end for the long awaited victory, which made Ze Roberto the only coach ever winning a Gold Olympic medal with men and women.




CHINA – CUBA 3-0 (25/16) (21/25) (25/13) (25/20)


Just before starting the the bronze medal match, China and Cuba were disappointed and frustrated because they had both expected to play for the gold medal. These two teams considered the medal bronze more a consolation than a success. I think that this approach is always wrong but I can understand their reasons: the Cubans, after a perfect Preliminary Round, unexpectedly stopped to playing. The Chinese athletes, performing at home and being the former Olympic winners, felt it was a of duty winning the gold medal.

Today, the Chinese team won because its standard performance level is higher than the Cuban one. The Caribbean performance range is very wide. On occasion, the athletes can play wonderfully if motivated and resolute but they can even play very badly if they are aimless and sluggish. Each time they play without a strong motivation, they lose their most important quality and the performance is strongly affected.

Otherwise, the Chinese athletes have significant limits in attack but their excellent individual technique in other fundamentals makes them more steady and consistent. The Chinese team performs fine also when their emotional approach is neutra.
Today they won the bronze medal, which is of course one of the three most important acheivements, but if the Chinese want to develop their current level they have to work on their attack skills.

The Cubans instead, to get better have to answer a crucial question: is the fourth place in 2008 Olympic Games the best result they could achieve?

I think that the Cuban players always have the ability to compete for the Gold medal but they have to change their system following the modern methods. Changing an their deep-rooted habits is a tough challenge and it takes a long time, but I truly believe that Cuban Volleyball could reach better results according to their unbelievable individual physical and technical talent.

bye bye andrea zorzi