World Championship Japan 2010

    Brazil has two main weaknesses:


    1) NERVOUSNESS


    2) RUSSIA


    ugh i can't stand it anymore, three very important competitions and they lose to the same opponent in similar fashion. Come London 2012, they need to work with a psychologist again to overcome their weaknesses. The presence of Mari could have made a big difference during the match, coz she can rally hit the ball hard against the big Russian block. just how many times did the Russians block Jacqueline? and oh my, during the 4th set, they simply stopped fighting and gave too many points to Russia. 21-10? that's very unusual especially if you are playing against a strong team like Brazil. As expected, Sassa is Ze Roberto's main otion to substitute Jacqueline. I also noticed that Fabiana Claudino's game was so off during the final, she only started scoring during the third set, or was it because Fabiola didn't utilize her a lot? Anyway, congratulations to the Russian team...but I do hope that Brazil will win the 2012 London Olympics, in order to make up for this yet another disappointing loss.

    Speaking of Mari, I'm very anxious to see how this injury affects her physically. Knee injuries are very tough to come back from and gain 100% of the athleticism that you had before. Paula Pequeno's injury was much less severe and Paula in fact has already started playing again in her recent debut with her pro team, Volei Futuro. Mari has months of rehabbing before she'll see any time on the court. IMO, Mari is the real ex-factor for Brazil. Sheilla is amazing as well, but when they have the threat of Mari on the other pin, Sheilla is even more dangerous. Really hope Mari can come back strong. Ze Roberto has to be very pleased with Natalia's development over the course of the tournament. I think everyone knew she had potential, but she really delivered on that potential in this tournament and showed that she is ready be a star. Kosheleva and Hooker from the USA as well.
    There has been a lot of discussion about the Brazilian setters and whether Fabiola is good enough. I thought for someone with such little experience at this level performed pretty well. She's filling a gap that was previously filled by two of Brazil's all -time greats, so she definitely has high expectations to uphold. She blocks well and I think she has good movement. I think areas of improvement are the velocity of her quick setting to the middles. Brazil has the best MB combo in the world, and I don't think they were utilized enough in this tournament, particularly Thaisa.

    Quote from TheUSAFAN

    Speaking of Mari, I'm very anxious to see how this injury affects her physically. Knee injuries are very tough to come back from and gain 100% of the athleticism that you had before. Paula Pequeno's injury was much less severe and Paula in fact has already started playing again in her recent debut with her pro team, Volei Futuro. Mari has months of rehabbing before she'll see any time on the court. IMO, Mari is the real ex-factor for Brazil. Sheilla is amazing as well, but when they have the threat of Mari on the other pin, Sheilla is even more dangerous. Really hope Mari can come back strong. Ze Roberto has to be very pleased with Natalia's development over the course of the tournament. I think everyone knew she had potential, but she really delivered on that potential in this tournament and showed that she is ready be a star. Kosheleva and Hooker from the USA as well.
    There has been a lot of discussion about the Brazilian setters and whether Fabiola is good enough. I thought for someone with such little experience at this level performed pretty well. She's filling a gap that was previously filled by two of Brazil's all -time greats, so she definitely has high expectations to uphold. She blocks well and I think she has good movement. I think areas of improvement are the velocity of her quick setting to the middles. Brazil has the best MB combo in the world, and I don't think they were utilized enough in this tournament, particularly Thaisa.


    Yeah... Mari/Sheilla combination, together with Fabiana/Thaisa, is just a force to be reckoned with. i wish we could see brazil at its peak again, the way they were during beijing. ;(

    Quote from hplailane

    Yeah... Mari/Sheilla combination, together with Fabiana/Thaisa, is just a force to be reckoned with. i wish we could see brazil at its peak again, the way they were during beijing. ;(


    Still speaking of Mari, I really hope her passing/reception keeps getting better now that she'll be trained by Bernardinho.

    Quote from TheUSAFAN

    Just to clarify, I'm not calling Brazilian fans/coaches/media as a whole sore losers, but there are documented incidences of questionable behavior by all groups mentioned that shouldn't be glossed over. Yes, there are great Brazilian fans/coaches/media that do a great job of representing their program and country in a positive manner, but that doesn't justify others' poor behavior or make me classless individual for pointing those things out. Ze Roberto's comments regarding the nationality of the referee went beyond poor attitude, IMO. For the head coach of one of the biggest volleyball programs in the world to make a racially driven comment at a press-conference is unacceptable and he should be reprimanded for that. The head referee during their Olympic gold victory was Italian and the games were in China. Did he have a problem with that then and prefer a Chinese referee? Of course not, because they won and that sort of comment makes no sense. The men's thrown match against Bulgaria in the WCH was another example of poor behavior on the part of both the coach and the players that not all, but a large portion of Brazilian supporters were trying to justify as "playing within the rules" and when their libero, Mario, made a comment that they indeed lost the match on purpose, and many Brazilian press and fans were VERY upset by his comments. Only to have Bernardinho come out and admit to things and apologize only once everything was said and done and they already won. When you're at the top of the game, what you do and say is magnified and Brazil is no exception to that.


    My only intention is to bring to the attention of the global audience on this forum certain issues that are being discussed in the Brazilian blogosphere/media that perhaps they weren't aware of because the volleyball community at large generally doesn't speak Portuguese. I think it's only fair that if you are going to make comments that others have the right to disagree and give counterarguments. On forums/media that are country-specific, the members are obviously going to be biased towards their home nation and that's what makes this board special is that there is a large international group that can share their perspective from many different viewpoints.

    I'm deeply concerned with this on going talk about the Brazilian player's reaction to their WC loss and the ensuing issues brought in by different people regarding the matter. I guess a lot of us here have opinions regarding what should be the behaviors of athletes and/or coaches - taking in to consideration that they are role models, and there reactions to certain situations.


    I guess as the USAFAN pointed out, if you post a comment you should take into consideration the right of others to disagree or agree with you opinion. That is in fact correct and that's what makes this forum alive and interesting - the exchanges of opinion. However, caution should be exercised when we are commenting on another country's players/fans/coaches/media or blogs and we have to be sensitive on the context. We are a global community here and as much as we are passionate about our teams and the athletes that we support, we should avoid certain generalizations that may not be culturally sensitive.


    I'm just bothered how USAFAN phrased his comments (I'm sorry, I'm not attacking you as a person). He said that his "only intention is to bring to the attention of the global audience on this forum certain issues that are being discussed in the Brazilian blogosphere/media that perhaps they we aren't aware of because the volleyball community at large generally doesn't speak Portuguese". This may sound noble and I'm not questioning his intent. I'm just looking at the context of the previous posts about how he takes issue on Ze Roberto not accepting the Russian superiority during the final match and how racist his post-match comments were. And he claimed that - "My issue is that the Brazilian fans/coaches/media always seem to have some reason for their lack of success over the years. In 1996 it was unsportsmanlike conduct by the Cubans, in 2004 it was the referee's, WC 2006 "pure luck", Pan 2007 (they choked and couldn't admit it), and now 2010 WC. Congratulations to Russia, you are the best team in the world!!!".


    And then I read Yates reply about how he feels that the post makes brazilian fans/coaches/media look bad. And I think that when you try to look at the context of the above post, isn't it that the comment itself is as racially-charged as Ze Roberto's? It's one thing to frown on racism but at least we should be careful not to offend the sensibilities of others by making the same mistake. I think it not prudent to connect different incidents from the past and using it to categorize a certain sub-group of athletes and making a generalization from there no matter how we claim that there are substantial reports about the incidents.


    Again, I guess we have to more prudent and exercise caution on each of our comments no matter how passionate we are about the subject.


    Peace :)

    I totally agree with joanamss message!!





    Quote from Joana

    Even though it's WAY off topic here, I have to share this queen of face making with you. :D It's the Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast Oksana Skaldina who thought she was robbed of the silver at the Barcelona '92 Olympics and made her feelings well known during the award ceremony. Starting at 2:15 in this video.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAm9Wvo8OHY


    Makes all of the volleyball players including Piccinini look like amateurs. :P

    Wow, she didn't even shake hands with the silver medalist. And the faces she does!! :white:

    Quote from Joana

    Even though it's WAY off topic here, I have to share this queen of face making with you. :D It's the Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast Oksana Skaldina who thought she was robbed of the silver at the Barcelona '92 Olympics and made her feelings well known during the award ceremony. Starting at 2:15 in this video.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAm9Wvo8OHY


    Makes all of the volleyball players including Piccinini look like amateurs. :P

    I like Her :lol:

    @gael alexei philippe


    How you could ever equate a comment about the major losses of the Brazilian team followed by my negative reaction to the Brazilian fanbase/media/coaches' poor reaction as the same as Ze Roberto saying that in Japan there should be Japanese referees and not Koreans is completely ridiculous. My issue is with the behavior of the mentioned groups in Brazil is not with the fact that they're Brazilian. Ze isn't only critiquing the referee's performance, he's criticizing his character and ethnicity. BIG difference, my friend. If you're so concerned with cultural sensitivity, were you upset about
    the Brazilian fan who was dressed in blackface and dancing around the
    stadium calling himself/herself "A Nega Maluca (The Crazy Black Lady)"? And let's not all be so naive shall we, there are plenty of comments from people of other nations regarding Russia, Italy and the USA and it doesn't make them "racist" for having a negative opinion about other nations' play or behavior. I also happen to BE Brazilian. Why else would I be reading blogs/media in Brazilian-Portuguese?!? The fact of the matter is there are cultural norms and behaviors in Brazil that I don't agree with that definitely translate over to sports and how athletes, fans and coaches behave. I have every right in the world to question those norms. If you also READ my commentary the vast majority focuses on the coaches and fans yet every rebuttal of my opinion is saying I'm attacking players, which is clearly not the case.

    I agree with you Gael... I think you hit the point.


    It doesn't matter to me what NT you support neither what country you come from. It's all your right to decide if there's any NT you want to root for.
    It's great that JoannaMS and USAFan found a NT they can relate to. I couldn't even support brazilian NT some years ago.


    Right now as a brazilian supporter, just like anyone else, I will stand by my team. Of course I don't agree with everything players and coach does. I stated here that I thought Jaqueline and Fabiana and UOL behaved at their worst when they won Italy. And I still think our male NT has a black spot on their shirts when it comes to the last WC and the 2004 OG.


    What annoys me most is that when it comes to Brazil I always feel like people loves to bring the bad side. It might be my opinion just because I'm brazilian but I feel that way.
    Did anyone other than me mentioned Jaqueline, Jose Roberto and Fabiola praised the russian team? I can't remember... It's always about bringing what's the worst just like acting like those gossip sites. And let's be honest. I talked to fans from China, Italy, Hong Kong, Poland and we know in every country there are every kind of fans. I remember a chinese friend telling me I shouldn't register at a chinese forum because they weren't that much found of foreign persons even though I admired the chinese team. It's not because of that I will call chinese fans "sore losers". I don't even bother reading what brazilian fans says at UOL because a forum with no administrator is a place you will read everything! And this is not an issue of brazilians. Just go to a video on YouTube and you will read bad comments from people around the world.


    So I feel it's really sad people might come here and only tell about the worst things brazilians players and coach's done. And when it comes to the bad things they can go over and over and over... But they will never post a single statement if those same players and coach praise the opponent because that doesn't matter to them.


    I do believe those kind of people more than supporting any NT are a hater of some.

    Quote from kuraf_veiga

    here you can see gamova and sokolova saying ´´hellow´´ to Peru :lol: http://depor.pe/noticia/668961…la-mundial-saludo-al-peru

    So funny, Ljuba is answering in Italian. :lol: I remember Glinka in Spanish League was speaking a broken Spanish full of Italian words. The other way around Logan Tom when speaking Italian she always put many Spanish words in.
    If you learn first Spanish and then Italian, or the other way around, is not easy to speak clean the other language.


    Off Topic:
    It happens to me. Now that I'm better in Russian than in Serbian, when I'm trying to speak Serbian, I always confuse and say "horosho" instead of "dobro". :whistle:

    Quote from samba player

    Off Topic:
    It happens to me. Now that I'm better in Russian than in Serbian, when I'm trying to speak Serbian, I always confuse and say "horosho" instead of "dobro". :whistle:

    So you speak Russian and Serbian, and you are studying Japanese, right? Very impressive.
    I am learning Italian and Portuguese. Italian words are easier to pronounce.
    Good luck with Japanese!

    Quote from sne

    So you speak Russian and Serbian, and you are studying Japanese, right? Very impressive.
    I am learning Italian and Portuguese. Italian words are easier to pronounce.
    Good luck with Japanese!


    Yeah I can speak Russian and more or less Serbian too. In my opinion Russian is the most beautiful language in the world. And Serbian is very melodic. Japanese is very sweet.


    I tried Brazilian Portuguese for some lessons but I gave up. Too many nasals and I was not good at pronouncing that sounds. And the intonation is very musical, but too difficult for me. Yeah Italian pronounciation is much easier. Brazilian portuguese is a pleasure to hear, very musical.



    Thanks, good luck you too with Italian and Portuguese!! :)

    I did not commented this final. It was really sad to watch Brazil loosing this game, but this time our best was not enough. Congratulations to Russia, they did a great tournament. Next time, i hope Brazil may have more luck.


    About what Jaque and Fabiana said i dont know if this is true. Like Joana said, UOL always write something that is not totally true. Fabiana is not only a great player but she is a very polite person, and Jaqueline too. And what they said was so aggressive that i can not believe it's true. Also because, next year they can play togehter in some team and it would not be nice this kind of trouble.


    In Club World Championship Jaque and Picci can play agaisnt each other in semi final or final. Let's see who wins.

    Just to settle things: USAfan, I didn't feel offended by your coments, but I felt like I needed to answer, cause didn't think it was right the way you put things in your post. I didn't realize at first you were brazilian as well, but I figured soon, after a couple of posts. I think it's really cool that people like you and others can support whoever they wish; I myself haven't always supported our NT. But while I don't think you were being racist (I think neither did anyone else), this doesn't change the fact that I thought you generalized stuff about people who support the brazilian team way too much. That's it.


    I support my country's NT team, but I can be critical too. I think Ary Graça is a moron, I think it's silly and amusing the way ZRG always evokes the referees and I get mildly irritated by the nationalist and biased remarks of some of our journalists. (Telling me Fabíola was the best setter of the championship, for instance, I take that as an insult). So I'm not biased cause I support this team and I think the biased ones are not necessarily representative. Yourself is the biggest prove, cause you're brazilian too and you don't act like that either. Maybe you think they are representative cause you're brazilian too, but I think Gael got it right: this is not characteristic of any group in particular. People are people, that's all.

    Here is a listing of the Points Differential by Round, Opponent Rating and Adjusted Point Margin as a Simple Rating System for the average match during first round.


    Brazil averaged a total points win of 23.20 points in the first round, but their competition lost by an average of 4.64 points, so Brazil's Adjusted Point Margin was 18.56 points per match. Or in lay-mens terms, Brazil won 75-56 in three sets in their five matches.


    Team Pts-Diff-Margin Opp-Rating Adj-Margin
    Brazil 23.20 (4.64) 18.56
    Russia 22.20 (4.44) 17.76
    Japan 22.00 (4.40) 17.60
    Poland 18.60 (3.72) 14.88
    USA 15.20 (3.04) 12.16
    Germany 14.60 (2.92) 11.68
    Netherlands 14.00 (2.80) 11.20
    Serbia 12.60 (2.52) 10.08
    Turkey 5.80 (1.16) 4.64
    Italy 5.60 (1.12) 4.48
    Czech Republic 5.20 (1.04) 4.16
    South Korea 4.40 (0.88) 3.52
    China 3.20 (0.64) 2.56
    Cuba (0.60) 0.12 (0.48)
    Thailand (3.00) 0.60 (2.40)
    Peru (3.80) 0.76 (3.04)
    Croatia (7.20) 1.44 (5.76)
    Dominican Republic (13.60) 2.72 (10.88)
    Puerto Rico (18.80) 3.76 (15.04)
    Kazakhstan (19.00) 3.80 (15.20)
    Costa Rica (19.80) 3.96 (15.84)
    Canada (22.00) 4.40 (17.60)
    Kenya (29.20) 5.84 (23.36)
    Algeria (29.60) 5.92 (23.68)


    Here is the same but for sets difference. Brazil won 13 sets more in 5 matches (2.6 sets), its opponents on average lost a half a set, giving an adjusted margin of 2.08 sets difference per set.


    Team Sets-Diff-Margin Opp-Rating Adj-Margin
    Brazil 2.60 (0.52) 2.08
    USA 2.60 (0.48) 2.12
    Russia 2.40 (0.48) 1.92
    Japan 2.20 (0.44) 1.76
    Germany 1.80 (0.32) 1.48
    Serbia 1.60 (0.32) 1.28
    South Korea 1.60 (0.32) 1.28
    Poland 1.20 (0.24) 0.96
    Netherlands 1.00 (0.20) 0.80
    Czech Republic 0.60 (0.12) 0.48
    Italy 0.60 (0.12) 0.48
    Turkey 0.20 (0.04) 0.16
    China (0.40) 0.08 (0.32)
    Peru (0.40) 0.08 (0.32)
    Croatia (0.60) 0.16 (0.44)
    Cuba (0.60) 0.16 (0.44)
    Thailand (0.60) 0.16 (0.44)
    Dominican Republic (1.40) 0.28 (1.12)
    Costa Rica (1.60) 0.32 (1.28)
    Puerto Rico (1.80) 0.36 (1.44)
    Canada (2.40) 0.48 (1.92)
    Kazakhstan (2.40) 0.52 (1.88)
    Algeria (3.00) 0.60 (2.40)
    Kenya (3.00) 0.60 (2.40)