The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : Where soccer rules, volleyball is adored too

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Thursday, Jul 26, 2007
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Where soccer rules, volleyball is adored too

RIO DE JANEIRO: While soccer is Brazil’s most popular sport and that won’t change anytime soon, Brazilians also love volleyball, a sport that has given local fans a lot to celebrate of late.

Volleyball attracts passionate fans in South America’s largest country, and that has been the case again at the Pan American Games in Rio.

The fans packed the 12,000-capacity Maracanazinho Stadium in nearly all matches of the women’s team — including in the heartbreaking final loss to Cuba — and several of the men’s team’s matches were sold out days before the competition began on Monday.

“This is volleyball country too,” said 19-year-old Marina Cabreira da Luz. “We love the sport here. Every time they play somewhere here in Brazil, the stadiums are crowded, it happens all the time. We just love the excitement of the game.”

Dominant

It also helps that Brazil has been dominant in the sport, maybe even more than in soccer recently.

The men’s team is the reigning Olympic champion, and earlier this month it won its fifth straight World League title — and seventh overall. Only Italy has more, with eight. Brazil also won the last two world championships.

The women’s team is just as impressive. It won the last three Grands Prix — the equivalent of the World League — and was runner-up to Russia in last year’s world championship. It was fourth at the Athens Olympics in 2004, but only after blowing seven match points in a semifinal against the Russians. “Every time they play, they win,” said 38-year-old Cristiane Barbosa de Souza. “That’s fun. We keep coming back for more.”

It wasn’t fun, however, when the Brazilian women were upset by rival Cuba in a thrilling final at the Pan Ams last Thursday. Brazil was favoured to win the gold, but missed six match points — including two in the tie-breaker — in the heartbreaking loss.

Frustrating moments

“Yeah, it’s frustrating, but this team has won enough recently to keep fans proud for a long time,” Brazil women’s coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes said. “We hadn’t lost to the Cubans in almost two years, and they are our biggest rivals.”

Some fans couldn’t hold back tears after the match was over, and the disappointing loss made the front pages of nearly all newspapers the next day.

The men’s team will begin their quest for gold at the Pan Ams with a three-set victory against Canada on Monday. The team was third in 2003 at the Dominican Republic after a surprising loss to Venezuela in the semifinals.

But no matter the results on the court, volleyball crowds usually put on a show in Brazil, with young fans — mostly dressed in the green and yellow of the nation’s flag — chanting incessantly to support their players.

The men’s matches are full of teenage girls trying to get a closer glimpse of their idols.

Different atmosphere

It’s certainly a different atmosphere than the one seen in soccer matches here, where the majority of fans are adult men.

“There’s a lot of entertainment in volleyball games,” said 57-year-old Lelis Nobre. “It’s a lot of fun.”

The hype about Brazilian volleyball began in 1992, when the men’s team won the nation’s first ever team Olympic gold medal in Barcelona — a feat Brazilian soccer is yet to match to this day.

Players from that volleyball team — which included Carlao, Mauricio, Marcelo Negrao and Tande — received a huge ovation last week when they helped carry the Pan Am torch at the games’ opening ceremonies. he success of the volleyball at the this year’s Pan Ams was likely to provide an even bigger boost to the sport.

“It’s going to be huge, I have no doubt,” said Brazilian women’s player Fabiana Oliveira. “People will be upbeat after seeing the wonderful crowds here. It’s definitely bringing more attention to the sport.”

Fans are already loving it.

“I’ve seen other Pan American Games events, but so far volleyball is the most fun to watch. I’m glad I’m having this chance,” said 19-year-old Michelle Guyt.

Beach volleyball also got a lot of attention from local fans, many of them who play the sport themselves on weekends at the Rio beaches.

Brazil has some of the best duos in the world and easily won both gold medals in Rio.

Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego won the men’s event and Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca the women’s.

“Thank God we have volleyball here,” Cabreira da Luz said. “It gives us a good break from soccer once in a while.” — AP

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