Brazil win South American duel

LANGLEY, Canada, September 27, 2012 - Brazil opened the third day of the U-23 Men’s Pan American Cup by defeating Argentina 3-0 (25-20, 31-29, 25-18) at the Langley Sport Centre on Thursday.

Alan Souza was the top scorer of Brazil with 17 points followed by Henrique Batagim with 13. Gonzalo Lapera, tallied 9 for Argentina and Luciano Zorneta added 8.

“It was a good match, and the 3-0 score doesn’t speak itself because it was difficult,” Brazil’s captain Thiago Veloso stated. “All three sets were tough and we still are looking to improve in any way.”

“We were so close in the second set, maybe if we had tied the match things had been different,” said Argentinean captain Gonzalo Quiroga. “Now we have to focus in Canada our next rival while tomorrow have our day off.”

Brazil’s coach Leonardo Carvalho, was satisfied with the result. “Matches against Argentina are always interesting, I feel satisfied,” he said. “But the most important thing is to play one game at a time, and in our case we are also focused in the South American qualification to the U-21 World Championship.”

“We had a reaction in the second set, but unfortunately Brazil didn’t let us play as we wanted. Their attack affected us and attacking is always a key factor in volleyball,” Argentina’s head coach Fabian Muraco said.

Brazil will face Canada on Friday, while Argentina has a day off in the tournament.