2006 Men’s World Championships – Portugal
Portugal win again - Latvia, Estonia & Austria still in contention (FIVB)
05/21/2005
Vila
de Conde, Portugal, May 21, 2005 – Sunday is shaping up
to be a fantastic finale at the 2006 Men’s World
Championship second round tournament – Europe Pool G in
Vila de Conde as all four teams are still in contention
for the two third-round tickets on offer after
Saturday’s results which saw, world number 18 Portugal
claim their second win in as many matches by ending
Estonia’s World Championship run of four victories on
the trot with a hard fought 3-1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-23,
25-22) victory followed by Latvia beating Austria 3-1
(25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 25-19) in the second match of the
day.
With the two third-round tickets available to the
winner’s and runner’s up, Portugal sit on top of the
four-team table with two victories, followed by Estonia
and Lativia who have recorded a win and a defeat while
Austria are still in contention despite losing their two
matches. Pic: Reception is an area Portugal have to work on
according to coach Orlando Samuels
Sunday’s incredible final day will see Austria play
Estonia at 13.45 (local time) and Portugal play Latvia
at 16.05. If Austria win and Latvia lose, Estonia,
Austria and Latvia will have to go to set ratio
difference to see who joins Portugal in the third round.
If Portugal loses and Estonia wins, any of the two plus
Latvia can claim the two third-round tickets on offer.
It all makes for an exciting climax to the final day of
the tournament.
Portugal showed on Saturday that they are the form team
in this tournament, however coach Orlando Samuels will
still have some points to work on, namely reception and
block, areas in which an impressive Estonia side looked
to take advantage.
Having beaten Austria on the opening day in straight
sets, Portugal entered Saturday’s match with confidence,
and were quick to open a one set advantage, but to
everyone’s astonishment, first round winner’s Estonia,
ranked 50th in the world, leveled the match at one-set a
piece and pushed Portugal all the way.
“Our team played much better today and we improved a lot
technically,” Samuels said. “Estonia has four players
very good on the service, but I think our players did
well also.”
“Estonia served very well and their block and defence
were excellent so we had some difficulties,” Portugal
captain João José said. “I think we were better in the
crucial moments.”
Meanwhile, Latvia kept alive their hopes of advancing to
the third round with victory over Austria. Again, this
game had to go to four sets but eventually Latvia had
too much fire power to pull away. However team
management were not happy with the display as both sides
made countless errors and failed to find their true
rhythm.
“I don't have any words to describe what happened today,”
Latvia captain Hotulevs Vladislavs said. “It's difficult
to play such a match as we did, the team did not play as
a team.”
