Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 15, 2015 - France prevailed over Brazil with a 3-1 (27-29, 25-21, 31-29, 25-19) victory, falling just in the first set. Almost 10,000 fans supported Brazil at Maracanazinho, in Rio de Janeiro, but the European team had amazing performances by Antonin Rouzier, top scorer of the match with 25 points, and Ngapeth (21 points). Spiker Ricardo Lucarelli was the best Brazilian scorer with 21 points.
French team didn’t serve well in the first set, which allowed Brazil, that had a better defense, an early lead 8-5 before the first technical time-out. The team mentored by Bernardo Rezende had a sequence of three block points, the last one by Isac, and destabilized the opponents, opening a 13-7 lead. France was able to react with good offence, despite some bad serves. Brazil suffered but concluded the set 29-27 and won with two block points.
Both teams defended very well in the first part of the second set, which explains the tight score: 8-6 for Brazil after two block points by Lucas Saatkamp. France took a 15-13 lead after good blocks and good offence by Antonin Rousier and Earvin Ngapeth. The Brazilian team was back in the lead with two spikes by Lucarelli, who was the main target of Brazilian setter Willian. Rouzier and Ngapeth made the difference again and France scored 25-21.
The French team started better in the third quarter and got an early 9-7 lead with Ngapeth spiking and blocking well. The fans at Maracanazinho brought Brazil back to their feet and the team equalled the score at 18-18, but the French team won the dramatic third set by 31-29. France again had a better start over Brazil and got a 10-7 lead. The Europeans served well, maintained the lead and defeated the host team by 25-19.
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