PARIS — Trust that Thursday’s Olympics women’s volleyball semifinal between the USA and Brazil will be a little less friendly than the last time they met.
The two Olympics powers — who are, in fact, friendly — actually scrimmaged here before the Games began. Three of the last four gold medals went to either Brazil (2008, 2012) and the USA (2021, when it defeated Brazil in the final). And the winner of this match will go for gold again.
“We were at VNL (Volleyball Nations League) week one in Brazil and our staffs get along really well,” USA coach Karch Kiraly said Tuesday night after his team swept Poland in the quarterfinals. “And I have a lot of respect for Ze Roberto (Roberto Guimaraes), he’s one of the great coaches on the planet.
“We had a series of friendlies against Netherlands (in early July in Long Beach), but the first team we invited was Brazil, taking a risk that they might even be in our same pool. They said they had other things going on. But he did say how about we talk about scrimmaging like two or three days before opening ceremonies.
“So we talked about it again and said if we’re going to be in separate pools let’s do it. And soon as we found out June 17 or 18 we were in separate groups, I messaged him and he was like ‘Yup, I’m up for it,’ and so we scrimmaged at the special training facility we’ve been working out at.”
They played four sets.
“That was really fun to have them come and we felt like we helped each other prepare,” Kiraly said.
In this tournament, Brazil went 3-0 in pool play, sweeping Kenya, Japan and Poland before sweeping the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals.
The USA lost in five to China, defeated Serbia in five, and then swept France before its 25-22, 25-14, 25-20 victory Tuesday over Poland.
The USA and Brazil play at 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific).
In the 8 p.m. semifinal, Italy, which swept Serbia, faces Türkiye, a five-set winner over China.
The USA was naturally thrilled after thumping Poland in the first two sets and then making a nice comeback in the third.
“We are right where we want to be,” setter Jordyn Poulter said. “We keep getting better every match. We’re staying connected through thick and thin and I’m just really proud to be a part of this team.”
“We have been hoping to put together some really nice spurts of volleyball and we put together a couple of nice sets. It’s really only…
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