The legs didn't shake, nor did the psychological factor fail. Quite the opposite. Cuban volleyball experienced a dream night, and this Tuesday the men's team defeated their arch-rival Brazil 3-1, kicking off the 2024 Nations League with strength and keeping alive their aspirations of qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games through ranking.
Despite playing on "enemy turf" and thousands of people shouting against them at the Maracanazinho in Rio de Janeiro, coach Jesús Cruz's players looked immense and crushed the South Americans' aspirations, with set scores of 25-23, 27-29, 25-21, and 25-21.
Without a doubt, the team performance bore fruit, although the assistant Marlon Yant reached the top scorer category with 18 points, 12 of them in attack (12-30, 40% effectiveness), two in blocking, and four in serves.
However, the remaining starters also achieved their goals: outside hitter Miguel Ángel López (15 points, 60% effectiveness), opposite hitter Michael Sánchez (14; 66.6%), and middle blockers Javier Concepción (13; 70%) and Robertlandy Simón (12; 77%); while setter Christian Thondyke moved his pieces with surgical precision.
"A great victory for what it always means to defeat one of the best in the world like Brazil, at home and at the beginning of this tournament so important to us," declared the experienced Simon at the end of the match.
"We were fighting point by point, set by set. We know that the task is complex, that qualifying for Paris is a very tough challenge, but here we are, without losing strength and confidence. It's step by step, without getting too confident and without losing focus," added the giant of over two meters tall.
Another born and raised in the largest of the Antilles, Yoandy Leal, turned out to be the most productive among the auriverdes, with 19 points, surpassing Ricardo Lucarelli (11), Darlan Souza (10), Lucas Saatkamp (10), Flavio Gualberto (10), and Alan Souza (8).
After achieving success, Cuba added valuable 12.7 points to the universal list and now accumulates 249.66 in 10th place, approaching Serbia (ninth, 253.22), which debuts this Wednesday against Iran in the competition.
The team from the island, meanwhile, rests this Wednesday, and on Thursday will return to the field to face another old acquaintance: Germany. The Germans and the Brazilians have secured their tickets to Paris 2024, after occupying -in that order- the top positions in the pre-Olympic tournament held last year also in Rio.
The remaining tickets are held by the king of Tokyo 2020, France, due to its status as the host; Japan and the United States, champions of the qualifying event held in the Japanese capital; along with Poland and Canada, who topped the competition organized in China.
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