World Cup : Wallace’s swan song earns Brazil a bronze medal
In what was very certainly his last international match, Wallace De Souza led Brazil to a bronze medal at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2022, giving Brazil its seventh medal in the tournament’s history. Returning from retirement to represent Brazil in this event, the 35-year-old opposite led his team to a 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 22-25, 25-18) triumph over Slovenia on Sunday for the bronze medal in Katowice.
At 21:00 local time, the last match of the World Cup will be played in front of a sold-out crowd at Spodek Arena, with Italy taking on hosts Poland (19:00 GMT).
Brazil earns bronze medal
Live coverage of every match at the 2022 FIVB Men’s World Championship can be seen on Volleyball TV.
Including two aces in the decisive fourth set, Wallace scored a match-high 22 points. With a success percentage of 58%, he managed to create 19 spikes that were effective attacks. Yoandy Leal, an outside hitter, added 19 more points, while Lucas Saatkamp, a middle blocker, racked up 12 points on the back of five kill blocks and three aces. Toncek Stern, who started on the other side, led Slovenia in scoring with 17 points.
Stern aced to put Slovenia ahead at 9-8, then pounded the following point from the back row, before setter Dejan Vincic closed off an extremely long rally with a hit on two to surprise his opponents and give Slovenia an 11-8 lead. Slovenia went on a 5-1 run to win the opening set, 12-8. That lead for Slovenia didn’t last long, however, as Brazil quickly responded with a seven-point sequence of their own when Lucas served, including two aces (15-15 and 17-15) on their route to an 18-15 lead. Both Bruno Rezende (the replacement setter and captain) and Leal (the starting libero) served up points for Brazil in the last moments of the set (21-17 and 24-18), and then middle blocker Flavio Gualberto finished off the set with a massive block (25-18) to give Brazil the victory.
Slovenia trailed 2-0 in the second set but tied it at 5-5 on an ace from Vincic and remained close all the way to 10-10. Brazil took the lead for good after scoring three straight points on a service by replacement outside hitter Adriano Cavalcante. Thanks in large part to Leal’s leadership on offense, the South Americans were able to maintain their lead and extend it to 25-18 at set’s finish.
Two and three of Brazil’s break opportunities came courtesy of Lucas’s blocks at 2-0 and 6-3, respectively, while Slovenia’s break point came courtesy of an ace served by middle Alen Pajenk (4-3). After Bruno’s direct serve pushed Brazil’s advantage to 11-5, the South Americans seemed poised to win in straight sets. However, Slovenia brushed themselves down and mounted a remarkable comeback. A run of five consecutive points culminated with an ace from Pajenk and an off-the-block smash from Stern brought the score to 15-15. A Leal attack that went out of bounds gave the Europeans a 17-16 lead, and an overpass kill by middle Jan Kozamernik extended their advantage to 18-16. After Lucas evened the score with an ace, Stern responded with his own ace to give Slovenia a 22-20 advantage. At 24-21, outside hitter Klemen Cebulj tipped gracefully to set point, which captain Tine Urnaut promptly smashed home for the 25-22 victory.
In the fourth set, Slovenia jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Brazil rallied to even the score at four all. In quick succession, Wallace served an ace to put Brazil up, 6-5. After a huge block by Lucas brought the score to 14-11, Wallace served up another ace and then scored on a stroke from the back row to bring the score to 16-11. It was all Wallace in the last chapter. At match point, he struck from an acute angle to make the score 24-18, and then he hit a pipe shot to make it 25-18. Result achieved!
Adding a medal to my collection is a great honor. It’s the sixth time in a row, at least, that I can recall. Though we hoped for more, we are really pleased of our efforts, since we battled through a number of physical issues during the tournament and the year as a whole. All well, then. After the game, captain Bruno remarked, “We have to rejoice, cherish, and be proud of our bronze medal.” “This was a great group to work with; everyone was kind and enthusiastic. It was great fun, and I felt like I made a difference in everyone’s lives. It was a fantastic experience for us to compete in this year’s World Championship.
When Brazil won bronze in the World Championships for the first time, it gave the country a total of seven medals. They have a total of six medals to their name, three gold and three silver. For Slovenia, finishing in fourth place in the World Championships was a historic achievement.
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