Defending champions Brazil claimed top honours in the race for Pool F bragging rights after they defeated main rivals and previously unbeaten Bulgaria 3-1 in the FIVB Volleyball World Championship for Men in Hiroshima on Wednesday.
The Olympic gold medallists won 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 25-16 to put their Pool B defeat to France in the first round firmly behind them and head into the semi-finals as favourites to retain their title.
Bulgaria had already qualified for the last four and fielded many of their reserve players while Brazil also gave a run-out to their second stringers once it became clear that their place in the top two of the group was pretty safe.
Both teams finished with 6-1 win-loss records but Brazil win the group because of their superior points ratio.
It was an error-riddled start to the match as Bulgaria went into the first TTO 8-6 ahead. Nine of those first 14 points points came from service or other errors, with the teams looking nervous and trying to feel each other out.
Boyan Yordanov then served an ace to give Bulgaria a 9-6 lead and Todor Alexsiev fired one down the left to make it 11-8. However, Andre Heller and Andre Nascimento started to bring Brazil back into the set and a Bulgarian error tied it at 12-12.
Yordanov found a gap on the right and Bulgaria then went into the second TTO 16-15 ahead after Nascimento netted his serve.
Brazil disputed two calls as they went down 18-16 and called time out. It was clear that, at this stage, Bulgaria were the more fuild team as the Brazilians seemed unable to turn it on.
But crowd favourite Gilberto "Giba" Godoy stepped up to rescue the set for Brazil by ramming home three straight spikes from the left to give his team their first lead of the match at 20-19.
Giba then made a great block for another point before Krasimir Gaydarski halted the South Americans' run.
The 29-year-old Giba rose magnificently to spear one down the middle and give Brazil two set points and Bulgaria's response was an infringement that handed their opponents the first set.
Giba settled into a nice partnership with setter and captain Ricardo Garcia but Bulgaria's defence caught on as captain Plamen Konstantinov sent his team into the first TTO with an 8-7 lead.
Gaydarski's block on Heller put Bulgaria 13-10 ahead and prompted Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende to call time out. But Bulgaria continued their surge and went into a 16-12 lead after Yordanov's fine block on Dante Amaral.
Brazil were struggling to put attacking moves together as they watched Bulgaria take their lead to 20-16. Konstantinov made it 22-17 but an error and two service aces from Giba reduced it to 22-20.
A block on Gustavo Endres gave Bulgaria four set points and Gaydarski quickly ended the set with a push down the middle.
It was Bulgaria's turn to start making errors at the start of the third set with Gaydarski and Konstantinov forcing coach Martin Stoev to push the panic button at 6-3 down.
Though they managed to pull back three points, it was a service error that helped Brazil to an 8-6 first TTO lead.
Brazil suffered a block at 8-7 ahead when Endres got injured and was replaced by Rodrigo Santana, who hadn't played since the first round in Fukuoka.
But with Bulgaria making so many mistakes, they were able to carve out a 13-10 lead. Two spikes by substitute Murilo Endres and a Santana block took Brazil into a 16-12 second TTO advantage.
Brazil went 18-14 ahead before Bulgaria tried to fight back but a classic Giba bullet from the right made it 19-16.
Heller and Anderson Rodrigues then put Brazil in control of the set at 22-17 before Marcelo Elgarten blocked Gaydarski for six set points.
Rezende was forced into another time-out after Brazil wasted three of those points and Murilo finally closed it for his team on the fifth attempt.
Matey Kaziyski gave Bulgaria an early 5-3 advantage in the fourth set but Brazil, inspired by Murilo, hit back to lead 8-7 at the first TTO.
When Heller pounced on a low ball over the net to give his team a 13-9 lead, Brazil could sense victory. Indeed, they were soon 16-11 in front and after a points surge, Giba gave them nine set points.
Fittingly, Giba himself finished it off with a trademark spike down the middle.
