Two-time Olympic champion, Brazilian women’s volleyball team is going through a period of good results, remaining on the podium of the main world competitions, but lacking titles.
Brazil has not been champion of an intercontinental tournament since winning the 2017 Grand Prix, which generates discomfort, demands and criticism from fans.
For the Thaisa (gold in Beijing-2008 and London-2012 and bronze in Paris-2024) and I don’t (bronze in Paris-2024), demands are part of the daily life of such a winning team.
“I think the pressure is natural. I think it’s a very strong team, always present in all the finals and podiums and competing there between the biggest teams. So I think it’s very natural for these demands to happen. Demand is natural, it will be due to the level, for being a nation, for being a shirt and everything. Now the problem is when it leaves this natural pressure, this normal pressure, and goes to hate”, highlighted Thaisa.
“Speaking now of the new generation, my mentality is like this: it’s good that we’re demanding, it’s a sign that we have something more to offer. Now we have to worry when no one else cares about us”, added Nyeme.
Fame of “amarelonas” before the second Olympic championship
Thaisa recalled that the two-time Olympic champion generation also went through painful defeats before winning the titles. After failing to reach the podium in Athens 2004, the Brazilian team became known as “yellow” after defeats in the finals of the World Cup, to Russia, and the Pan, to Cuba.
It represented a comeback, but even so, the Seleção had to prove itself in London. In 2012, Amarelinha arrived as favorite, but ended up losing to the United States and South Korea in the first phase. With a historic 3-2 victory against Russia in the quarterfinals, Brazil managed to stay alive and return to the top of the Olympic podium.
In our generation back there, we went through this, it’s natural, we have to learn to deal with it. Trying to actually make them shield themselves from hate, because it’s bad, it hurts. If they manage to shield themselves from this, it’s half the battle, because they really won’t be charging themselves excessively. (…) The team is doing very well, it’s on the right path, it’s winning medals, it’s competing among the best and it’s a process. We also not only won, we lost a lot before we started winning. So, have the peace of mind that things will happen at the right time.
For Nyeme, it is a source of pride to wear such a successful shirt with so much history.
“The history that the girls built, the weight, I don’t think anything will erase and it lasts to this day in a very beautiful way. So we have to go there with pride in being able to be part of this too, of trying to understand that the fans, Brazil, will demand us because they are used to winning”, he stated.
mental work
The Minas players also highlighted the mental work that has been done in the Brazilian team with the help of professionals. For Thaisa, this support is a differentiator.
“They are having a really cool job with Vanessa (Selection coach), to work on this mental part, of being with them, providing support. This is wonderful, because for a long time we didn’t have much of this support and having this today is very important. So I believe that the commission is on the right path thinking in this direction, about shielding them”, praised the center.
Nyeme concluded by reinforcing that working on mentality is important for performance to remain at a high level.
“I think for my generation to work on this mentality. It’s good that we are already having this in the national team to get stronger and stronger. And I’m sure that the next championships will be better, as they already are. The girls this year were wonderful. I was very happy with their performance and I hope it only grows more and more”, said the libero.
