Olympic Games 2008 - Qualification Phase

    thanks mathhias do you have any idea about if she play in olimpic games? coz ı want to watch her again.she is one of my fovourites players

    Yeah....well, I think she will probably go to the olimpic games....well....I mean...just if she is to bad not to.....


    And I also realized that Ramirez also didn't flight with Cuba team for this games in China!!!!Someone knows why?

    Quote from joanamss

    Yeah....well, I think she will probably go to the olimpic games....well....I mean...just if she is to bad not to.....


    And I also realized that Ramirez also didn't flight with Cuba team for this games in China!!!!Someone knows why?


    Ramirez has been suffering from injuries/pains for quite a long time since the week after 2008 Cuba National Volley Championship. Calderon, Herrera are also in the same condition, thats why they three stay in Habana for recovery training separately...


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    this is the 14-Roster for China Training and Russia Training:


    Setter: Santos (just recovered from injury), Silie, Mesa, Cleger


    Wing Spiker:Carcases, Ruiz, Maso


    Middle Blocker: Carrillo, Sanchez, Barros, Gonzalez, Silva


    Libero: Arredondo, Ortiz...


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    but Barros played as an OH and Mesa played as a L in the first 3 matches vs China.....they were not in the best, but it was all right.....

    i may not be the tallest,
    the fastest, or the strongest,
    but at least i can do one thing better than anyone else,
    to be me...

    I read today that Fernanda Venturini made herself available for the Brazil team for the 2008 Olympic games.


    Fernanda sent an e-mail to Ze Roberto telling him that she is ready to join the training camp. Fernanda and Ze Roberto had some problems after the Athens games in 2004. The brazilian manager had said that Fernanda was listening instructions from her husband Bernardinho rather than listening to him.


    But now, it is said that the problems are solved and it's up to Ze Roberto whether or not consider this option.


    Any other news on this regard from our brazilian friends?

    Is Prima Aprilis popular in your country :?: :P

    Yeah! April 1st is very popular here! People use to play practical jokes with everyone they can!


    Although it is April 1st, it was Zé Roberto who confirmed Fernanda's contact. There are rumours that the Brazil's Federation president asked Fernanda to send this e-mail to Zé Roberto Guimarães, cause he wants to see her playing the Olympic Games.


    Personally, I am sick and tired of Fernanda Venturini, everyone in Brazil treats her as a goddess, as though she could fix Brazil's team problems and transform it into the biggest volleyball superpower. She's not even training and she wants to be in National Team now. What about the other players who have been making all the possible efforts to be in the NT roster since 2005? I think her coming back won't improve Brazil's game, cause Fofão is a very good and experienced setter and whenever she's in the National Team there are relationship problems among the players. Besides, we don't lack a better setter, we lack attacking high-balls like Russia and Cuba do to improve as a team.


    Brazilian people tend to overestimate the role of a setter cause our most impressive player was a setter for decades. Sometimes I think people here forget on purpose that having good attackers and physical strength is as important as having a skilled setter (or even more important, considering who won the latest editions of the World Championship and the Olympic Games). Cuba and Russia dominated the volleyball scene in the late 90's cause they had good attackers, not a good setter! The Chinese team (which has always had excellent setters) only started to win important competition after 2001, when their team improved physically, with stronger and taller attackers. Brazil's team shameful performance in Athens 2004 is a case in point of what a setter can do for a volleyball team. Fernanda joined the NT and everyone here was very confident about winning the Golden Medal at the Olympic Games and what could she do? Nothing! When the team most needed her, she didn't make the difference. Marina Sheshenina and the Cuban setters proved to be much more decisive than her when the matches were for real.


    The sad truth is that Fernanda Venturini has past her sell-by date already. Her presence in the NT will be harmful for Brazil's NT and such rumours are everything Brazil's team doesn't want before they start to prepare for the Olympic Games. I hope our coach do the right thing and simply forget that Fernanda Venturini exists when he announces his roster for this year's international competitions.

    Celso I'm going to agree with you!!!! (Finaly...hehehehe)...just kidding....


    But although I do think Fernanda was one of the greatest players ever...I think her time is done...and also I don't know how the girls would react...cause if she had to come back..it had to be with simplicity...as any other player..and I doubt that happens.....


    And It looks like Mari don't go well with her...well at least some hurt form Athens still exist....and like all the time...my future thinking speakn louder...hehe...and I think Mari is more important to Brasil team then Fernanda....and also I still think we should take a young setter....cause is fact that Fofão won't get out of the matches much time...so is ok to take a young setter....


    The other thing that I didn't like it...was the way she did this...I mean..I don't like Zé Roberto as a coach...actually is more like as a person....but she put him in a hard situation now...I think she should had talk to him before telling this on the news....or at least wait for him to answer the email...


    Well...now Zé has a difficult decision...cause if he don't take her and loose...well...everyone will say that is cause she was not there...and if he takes her and also Brazil loose...people will say that her time was over and that he shouldn't have take her.... 8|


    About the traying...I don't think this is a big problem for Fernanda...she is always very well fisicly..and just a few trainings she gets the time of the ball again...(we can see from her expirience in Murcia lest season...)


    But I still think that if it is to take her for her expirience as she says...then take her on the assistent coaching....why not???

    Hey guys! I really want to watch volleyball in Beijing but tickets are hard to find. Here in the Philippines, we have no indoor volleyball tickets, we only have beach vollyball ticket. :( Online purchase of olympic ticket is over. PLEASE HELP ME! :|

    Well, I think Fernanda is the greatest setter Brazil ever had.
    She retired, and period. I don't think she should come back and I hope she doesn't. I'm not sick of her, but I'm sick of all these comebacks...
    I agree that if she goes to Beijing, it will be harmful to the team, but at the same time, it's evident that Zé does not trust in ANY (Fofão included) setter available.


    I do not overestimate setters, but if your spikers have trouble spiking (due to quality, height, or whatever), it can solve a lot of problems. Brazil after Venturini has no good setter (and I don't like Fofão, just in case someone mentions her) and one (maybe two) spikers that can score with or without block, with or without a good set.
    Athens was not Venturini's fault. It was not Mari's, or anyone else. It was BRAZIL's fault and also merit to Russia who played everything in that final moment. So, maybe this time Fernanda could make a difference, or maybe not... if you want to see the result, just watch the Olympic Games 2008 :P

    I totally disagree, Lothie. Fofão's only problem is her height. When she's in the net, we have problems at blocking and all the opponents of Brazil's team take advantage of this situation. Zé Roberto trusts Fofão a lot. He always says that in interviews. If this were not true, Fernanda wouldn't be so humble to ask to be the bench player. This is another problem, in my opinion, cause even the coach overestimates the role of the setter. Even Fofão is treated differently by him.


    Brazil's team depends too much on a good reception, cause the setter is supposed to dribble the blocking with feints, combinations or fast plays, otherwise we can't score a point. If our reception is not good, we have problems in scoring points. Instead of trying to improve the team's performance in high ball's attacking, our coach prefers to depend on an excellent reception and unpredictable settings to overcome Brazil's team weaknesses. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is, to say the least, being not smart! Maybe that's way Brazil's fate so far is losing important competitions. It's high time Brazil's team reached a compromise among these two aspects.


    It is nice to have a setter that makes a difference, but it is also nice (or even nicer) not to depend on such a player. In the last 3 Olympic Games, setting was a strong point of Brazil's team and even so we never reached the gold medal match. WIth Fofão on court this year, setting won't be a problem again. I insist that Brazil's team main problem is not being effective in high ball's attacking and Fernanda's coming won't change this situation. Therefore, there's no need for her to be in the team. And I hope I don't have to see Fernanda playing for Brazil anymore. Cause this is for me the only thing that is open to question. Will she play or not? Cause I can even bet that she will make a difference for worse, not for better, if she joins Brazil's team back.

    Well....this is some subject that will carry on for a long time...I think even after the olympic games....


    But what we all agree is that Fernanda shouldn't be back...whatever the reason you think it is....


    In my opinion...Brazil has team to win this Olympic games...as a lot of others....


    the fact is...Celso..Brazil do not has high!!!this won't change...is like this in male and female...so is not our game playing with high ball...we will never be affected in this balls, at least, since we are not tall....so the the thing is playing fast....so we DO depend on a good reception....the male can make it...so I do believe the female can as well....but the girls ave to understand that for that they need to train a lot...and not make mistakes....this is our game...game that so many others coaches like so much!!!The like it cause it tourns into a beautiful volleyball!!!! I already heard Barbolini and Selinger saying that they prefer Brazil way of playing then Russians....and is true!!!


    I think that what Brazil have to do..is take this qualities and train a lot...no matter the setter is!!But being Fofão....well...her high does not help...so we need to be even more perfect in reception....


    I think that's it....


    Now, about Fernanda....is like Lothie said...just waiting Olympic Games to see!!hehe

    Well, just by accepting Fernanda back to the team (if that is true and really happens) just show me that Zé does not trust Fofão, otherwise he wouldn't mind who is second setter. Height? Important, sure, but then, Lo Bianco is just the same height as Fofão and look at Italy's results...
    Anyway, it is a matter of interpretation... even because I don't see any humility in Fernanda's actions, just some tatics and wisdom...
    I think Fofão solved a lot of brazilian problems, but certainly there are things that do not depend on her...


    I agree with you when you say about the attack players, but I can't agree that we should invest in high balls. It's not the brazilian players style...

    if she comes back, the age combined is 75, fernanda being 37, fafao being 38
    with the remark ze roberto made a fews years ago, i think it is unlikely he will retake fernanda
    plus the fact that they are the same type of setters, brazil got to need a younger one of another type, ding :wavy:

    If our players invest in improving their impulsion and physical strength I strongly believe we can improve a lot in attacking high balls. Yumilka Ruiz and Aguero are rather short and their high-ball attack is amazing. We can improve a lot in this kind of ball. I'm not saying that our game should consist of high balls, but being better in high-ball's attacks can make things easier if our reception doesn't work and, more importantly, in counter-attacks. In several counter-attacks it is not the setter who sets up the play and having an effective high-ball attack helps any team's performance in this fundamental.


    Italy is a case in point when it comes to this subject. They have a high-skilled setter and their game is pretty much like Brazil's (with fast plays, feints and combinations) but for the fact that when the situation is diffcult, Lo Bianco doesn't hesitate in setting up a high-ball to Aguero. This is what Brazil's team doesn't have yet and it's not Fernanda Venturini who will make Brazil's team improve in this aspect!


    Finally, I don't care about playing beautifully, I care about being champion!

    Celso, the thing is that Ze seems to give up on Mari, then brazil need to have a better attacker to sub the place Opposite
    ----some agree that sheilla is good but not good enough, then the problem is who is the opposite in the brazil NT,
    so... will Natalia be the next super spiker that brazil needs badly ?

    i dont think that it is a good idea not to bring mari in the beijing olympics. among the brazilian attackers, i think mari stands out. if ze roberto decides to have sheila as the opposite, then mari can either be one of the outside hitters or a subtitute for sheilla. natalia is not so reliable and her height is not so much of an advantage. brazil has a lot of things to be done to reach the olympic podium. i think that russia, italy, china and usa have bigger chances.

    Why am I getting the feeling and impression that Brazil's women's team has so many internal conflicts? Do the other teams have internal conflicts also?

    I think everyone said a little bit of truth here...


    Nivea...I think I can make your words mine...
    Celso...is true...Brasil could get a little bit better in high balls...but our game can't be this...just don't work...and if we want to become champions...well...we need to play beautiful....cause is our game...playing fast with no mistakes....we are not Russia or Cuba that can make a point the ugliest way just cause they have high or power....we can't change a genetic caracter...we have to work with what we have...hehe
    And I think Mari has to be back!!Like I said...for me her coming back is more necessary than Fernanda's one...but I don't think she is ready to be a OH...and I do prefer Sheilla as an opposite...but since Brazil make a lot the invertion of 5x1...putting the opposite in place of setter at net...and the setter in place of opposite on the back...Mari can be really importatn for us....


    And finishing...yeah...is true...Brazil does have a lot of internal conflit....a lot of players don't like Zé Roberto work...and when I say a lot of players...I mean ones that no one would even imagine!!!!! But the girls seems to be united when needed...I just don't know if is going to be enough...