2020 Olympic Games - Tokyo (Female)

    WE MADE IT.


    We made it to the final and we already are Olympic Medalists.


    I'm so happy, congrats to the girls, they had a tough cycle, with a lot of injuries, were diminished by many, treated like a middle level team, but they fight back in order to put themselves among the best where they belong.


    Congrats to the US girls too, it's really hard to make it to the big stage so many times. Tradition are something conquered with time and hard work.


    I expect a good fight for the bronze medal, congrats Korea and Serbia for making into the SF, it's not easy to get through the quarter finals, is the most difficult game and they made it.


    Well, the horrible team of Brazil who played horrible in VNL made it to the final and already are medalists, while the acclaimed "best team in the world" were sent home at QF where they never got through.


    I was saving this for a proper moment: go worry about your team now, we are doing just fine. :dance6::dance6::dance6:

    The match between Brazil & Korea was boring, but it was kind of expected. Korea’s only chance to win is to serve like they did in the match vs Turkey, but all passers in Brazil team are much better than Meliha/Hande/Seyma, and you can’t expect Brazil to give away free points like Turkey or DOM. Korea couldn’t do much with their limited hitting options when their opponent isn’t making error but instead Brazil had even fewer errors than Korea in this match.

    I really hope KYK can have a medal finally. The key in their bronze medal match will still be their serves. If they can serve Busa off the court like USA did today, and forcing Serbia having errors and feeling the pressure, they will have a slight chance.


    For the gold medal match, the team who is more mentally prepared and tougher will be the winner. Both USA & Brazil are technically the most all around teams with no significant weakness but also no dominant go-to hitter (if JT not playing). And their best squads have played against each other for so many times that both teams know what to expect. It comes down to which team will handle the pressure better and who can adjust faster if their game plan isn’t working.

    Congrats to USA & Brazil — the best teams this year, the titans that live up to the expectation when it matter most, despite going through a pandemic just like all the other teams in the world. Tomorrow is gonna be a good fight. Whoever wins, I will be happy despite the fact I am a Brazil fan. USA deserve the final spot and of they win gold medal, they deserve it 100% too.

    If Brazil will be able to take it to the 5th set with the USA, they can win the match. In the VNL finals, they were neck-and-neck (even leading) with the USA up until the 15th point or so of the sets after which USA pulls away. OTOH, I'm afraid the veterans no longer have the stamina to sustain their energies to that point. But then again, this game would be their most important game in 5 years, so adrenaline should be high up.

    Some people are saying that USA and Brazil were able to play at a high level despite the pandemic. Let's also remember that these nations were 2 of the worst hit countries by the pandemic.

    If the bench will spell the difference, Brazil may be at a disadvantage given that they have BIa as their lone backup MB. :whistle:

    Quote from Collier

    Some people are saying that USA and Brazil were able to play at a high level despite the pandemic. Let's also remember that these nations were 2 of the worst hit countries by the pandemic.

    Turkey, Italy, Serbia, China, Russia were hit very severely as well.


    USA 10-11%

    Serbia 10%

    Brazil 9-10%

    Turkey 7-8%

    Italy 7-8%

    Russia 4-5%


    This is roughly but all of those are one of the most severe cases. Serbia might not seem that high in stats because it has a smaller population.


    China not a lot but had to take one of the most drastic measures of course being the first country where it started.

    I don’t think the pandemic is the reason for any team underperforming. It’s a mixture of stars declining/getting injured, poor preparation, poor coaching decisions and just having some bad days.

    Quote from Sisko

    I don’t think the pandemic is the reason for any team underperforming. It’s a mixture of stars declining/getting injured, poor preparation, poor coaching decisions and just having some bad days.

    Yea tbh, the only logical excuse would be players declining because of age, but... The teams with the most veterans have been finalists atm.

    Quote from Leonardo.D

    More than agree or disagree, it is just checking a fact. One thing is an opinion, another is a fact. Before WCH 2014 gold medal, USA had not won any single major tournament. And I strongly believe that any single volleyball fan would say they were not a powerhouse.

    Another example: before Beijing 2008, Brazil had not won any major tournament yet. Would someone have said they were not a powerhouse in this sport? Of course not. Before that gold medal, Brazil had 2 bronze medal in Olympics and 2 silvers in WCH. Would someone have dared to call them wannabe team? I dont think so.

    Italy won twice one of those major tournaments, they have 1 gold medal and one silver medal in WCH. The other "B" teams could only dream of that. Hence, just because there is super biased user who hypes Italy in an obnoxious way doenst mean I have to deny the facts.

    Otherwise, I would be falling in the same mistake that user does.

    I might not be clear. I talked about being able to win any tournament with some of the best teams involved. Something like VNL, World Cup or even european championship... in order to be able to win a major tournament. Successful mentality starts with a victory over the best rivals in any tournament.


    Italy with this generation only won a zonal (Mediterranean Games) and a friendly tournament (Montreux). They are stuck at 2011 World Cup as their last important trophy. USA had a quite different pathway, because they were able to win multiples WGP and VNL and few NORCECA titles when Cuba was still Cuba, so they were just missing an important gold medal to fully belong to the elite, but they proved to be able to do so even before the 2014 world championship. This is where I find Italy behind the 'titans', they never won a tournament where China, Serbia, Brazil or USA were involved. They need this first step in order be part of the next level, waiting for a major gold medal.


    I know Italy won a Grand Champions Cup, a World championship and 2 european championship and so on and on, but it happend with another generation of players that proved multiple times to be able to win any tournament and just missed an olympic medal. The new generation players have to take the first step and prove themselves yet. So far they're like Turkey or Netherlands. They can make it to the final or to the podium stage matches, but they always miss something (mostly mentality imho) in the end to grab the gold medal.

    Quote from Sisko

    I don’t think the pandemic is the reason for any team underperforming. It’s a mixture of stars declining/getting injured, poor preparation, poor coaching decisions and just having some bad days.

    The pandemic has to have had an impact, maybe not physically, but more on mentally. All the reasons you mentioned are normal factors to teams' conditions but the general decline in the level of play is pretty evident to just be attributed to these.

    Quote from beri

    Yea tbh, the only logical excuse would be players declining because of age, but... The teams with the most veterans have been finalists atm.

    yes, it's a battle of aunties, mamas, (and grandmas). so no excuses. :lol::cheesy:

    Quote from Collier

    The pandemic has to have had an impact, maybe not physically, but more on mentally. All the reasons you mentioned are normal factors to teams' conditions but the general decline in the level of play is pretty evident to just be attributed to these.

    The only teams I saw playing significantly below the expected levels were China (hampered by Zhu and Yan’s injuries, as well as JLP’s insistence on using them), Italy (poor preparation and Egonu unable to recapture her previous glory but she’s been playing great ever since the pandemic so I don’t think it can be down to that) and Serbia (decline/injury issues with Mihajlovic reduced them to just one reliable attacker).


    Sure, the pandemic can have had an impact but to me these are more important factors.