The Final 4 is going to be a very exciting round for volleyball fans from all over the world!
After 5 weeks of traveling and treating fans with world class volleyball matches, the Men’s VNL is now down to 4 teams with Russia facing Brazil in the first semifinal match and then hosts France will play against USA. The winners from each match will play for gold and take home US$1 MILLION DOLLARS plus bragging rights as the very FIRST champions of the VNL.
BRAZIL VS RUSSIA: Brazil will put up a good fight but Russia will win this.
If Mauricio Borges didn’t get injured a couple of days ago then Brazil would have a higher chance of winning against Russia. Sadly, he is out of the tournament and Brazil now only has their superstar player Wallace as their main weapon. As for the Russians, the arrival of Maxim Mikhailov has given this squad a tremendous lift. Let’s not forget that young outside hitter Dmitriy Volkov has been playing great volleyball since the Final Round started.
Take note, Russia has NOT win a major international title since they won GOLD at the 2013 FIVB World League. Winning the VNL will put them as one of the top teams to watch out for at the World Champs in September.
Prediction: Russia 3-1 Brazil
RESULT: Russia 3-0 Brazil (25-17, 25-18, 25-14)
FRANCE VS USA: It’s never easy to play in front of your home fans. There’s just a lot of pressure so USA will win this epic battle.
France has NOT hosted a volleyball competition this huge so we’re not sure how their players will react to the pressure. Brazil hosted last year’s World League finals and succumbed to the pressure against Coach Tillie’s squad. In all fairness to France, their star player Ngapeth has been playing really well together with setter and our MVP pick Benjamin Toniutti. Middle blocker Le Goff has been a threat in the middle and so is the serving of Thibault Rossard. Team Yavbou will put a great fight against Team USA – no doubt about that – but again how will they handle the pressure?
As for Team USA, it’s great to have Taylor Sander and Benjamin Patch back on the team. Coach Speraw now has more options with his starting lineup. One major thing we notice on Team USA is that they know how to handle the pressure and they don’t lose focus. This is why we predict Anderson and Team to win this match.
Prediction: USA 3-2 France
RESULT: France 3-2 USA (25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 24-26, 15-13)
Poland and Serbia have been eliminated from the Final 4.
FIVB VNL Final 6
July 4th:
Russia 3-1 Poland (25-18, 25-23, 22-25, 25-17)
France 3-2 Brazil (22-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 15-13)
July 5th:
USA 3-0 Poland (28-26, 25-17, 25-18)
Brazil 3-0 Serbia ((25-16, 28-26, 25-19)
July 6th:
Russia 3-0 USA (25-22, 25-21, 25-21)
France 3-0 Serbia (25-19, 25-18, 25-17)
July 7th SEMIFINAL ROUND:
Brazil vs Russia
USA vs France
Click here to check out the full VNL schedule and tourney details.
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