It was not this time that the invincibility of Paola Egonu, Andropova and company was over.
In a very disputed game, Brazil lost to Italy in the semifinal of the Volleyball World Cup this morning (Brasília time) in Bancoc, Thailand.
There were five sets of a balanced clash from start to finish.
Brazil won the first set by 25/22, Italy returned the same score in the second. In the third, a very tight set, Brazil closed 30-28. In the fourth, Italy made 25 to 22 again.
Tie-Break ended 15-13 for the Italians.
Italy now has 35 games without losing. The last defeat was on June 1, 2024, precisely to Brazil, 3-2, by the League of Nations. In the final, the teams met again and Italy won 3-1.
The Italian team is current Olympic champion (the US beat the US 3-0 at the Paris-2024 games) and won the last two editions of the League of Nations (2024 and 2025).
Brazil has four vices of the World Cup (1994, 2006, 2010 and 2022) and on Sunday morning (7) faces Japan in search of third place.
The World Cup final takes place at 9:30 am (Brasília time). The Italians will face the Turkey team, which, in the other semifinal, held a few hours earlier, hit the Japan team.
The Japanese started the game well and won the first set 25-16, but ended up taking the turn and lost the following three sets (25/17, 25/18 and 27/25).
The highlight of Türkiye, and the game, was once again Melissa Vargas, opposite that plays for Istanbul’s Fenerbahçe. Born in Cuba in 1999 and naturalized Turkish in 2021, Vargas was the highest scorer of the match, with 28 points.
