Brazil recovered from an opening day setback as it vented its ire on the Netherlands, 25-21, 25-15, 25-20, in Volleyball Nations League men’s tournament yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Brazilians needed only 72 minutes to submit the Dutch to erase their tough defeat to Italy last Tuesday.
Henrique Honorato and Lucas Saatkamp led Brazil’s assault with 10 points each while Ricardo Lucarelli Souza and Alan Souza had nine apiece in a lethal Brazilian quartet combo.
“We tried to limit their strong attackers. They have the best (opposite) spiker in the world in Nimir and we made a great job blocking him. That was the main thing in this win,” Brazil captain and world’s best setter Bruno Mossa Rezende said.
Rezende had 10 excellent sets and a point for Brazil, which will face world No. 1 Poland today.
The world No. 3-ranked squad and the 2021 VNL champion, silenced Dutch ace Nimir Abdel-Aziz, the world’s top-ranked spiker, while launching attacks from all fronts to avenge its 23-25, 20-25, 25-15, 21-25 loss to Italy two days ago.
Abdel-Aziz had to bleed for eight points after a 24-point eruption in a 25-22, 25-22, 17-25, 25-18 win over Canada on Wednesday.
Brazil trailed early in the first set and was never threatened from there, leading by as many as 10 points in each of the last two frames.
Wouter Ter Maat, with 10 points, was the only bright spot for the world No. 10 Netherlands, which stayed at No. 8 with a 5-5 card.
