The men’s and women’s national volleyball teams learned on Friday which opponents they will face in the pre-Olympic tournament for Paris 2024.
The Women’s National Team, the current runners-up, were drawn in Group B, which will be based in Japan. The men’s team, on the other hand, have the advantage of hosting the games in Rio de Janeiro as they are the hosts of Group A, a group which includes teams such as Italy, the reigning world champions.
Still on the subject of the men’s team, the pre-Olympic tournament will feature countries such as Cuba, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Iran, Qatar and Germany. The tournament will take place at Maracanãzinho from September 30 to October 8. Filled with rivalries, the most traditional countries Brazil and Italy have already faced each other at the Olympics, with Brazil coming out on top in Athens and Rio. Another of Brazil’s great rivals is Cuba, and if the two teams meet, Leal, who is Cuban and naturalized Brazilian, could face his home country.
On the women’s side, the Brazilian team will face Bulgaria, Argentina, Belgium, Puerto Rico, Peru and Turkey. The women’s team’s main rival will be Japan, as the two teams recently met at the last World Cup, with the Brazilian team turning the match around, winning 3 sets to 2. The girls from Brazil will have to watch out for the Turkish national team, which includes Melissa Vargas, a player well known to Brazilians and Macris’ club teammate at Fenerbahce.
It’s not going to be easy. All the teams are going to be very focused on this competition, which is the main one of the year. So you can’t neglect anyone. It’s not an easy key. We know we’re going to have difficulties. There are three European teams, an Asian team and two South American teams, which we already know more about, and one from Norceca, which is Puerto Rico, with a very good left-footed player. It depends on who will make up the teams.
said coach José Roberto Guimarães.
If everything goes wrong for the men’s and women’s national teams, another way of getting a place at the 2024 Olympics is to try to get one of the four places available through the world rankings. The women’s team is currently third in the world rankings, while the men’s team is fourth.
The national teams attach great importance to the pre-Olympic tournament as it is a great opportunity to secure a place at the 2024 Olympics. Many championships have been affected by the pandemic and some teams have had to adapt and prepare adequately for high-level competitions. As well as getting a direct place at the Olympics, the pre-Olympic tournaments offer a great advantage because of the time the teams have to prepare. The tournament organizers believe that the competition will be hotly contested and evenly matched, after all, everyone wants to secure their place in Paris 2024.
Brazil is preparing hard for this tournament in order to maintain its tradition. The men’s and women’s national teams are expected to secure Olympic berths in this tournament.