Brazil 2-0 against Serbia during tough opening weekend

(BEIJING, June 16) -- Brazil's second five-set victory over Serbia in the opening weekend of the FIVB World League 2008 was similar to the first. More than 10,000 spectators came to Geraldo Jose de Almeida in Sao Paolo, Brazil, on both Saturday and Sunday to witness the home team drop the first set, impose its style to win the second and win a tight match by a score of 15-11 in the tiebreak.

The 23-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-23, 25-11 win caps off a strong start for the defending Olympic and world champions in their bid to win their sixth World League in a row and their eighth overall.

The Serbians will have to take consolation in forcing the Brazilians to go the distance two matches in a row.

"We didn't play very well in the two firsts sets. After this, we showed our real way of play and equalize the match against Brazil," said Serbian player Andrija Geric. "We trusted in the victory, but the Brazilian team showed why they won all the championships. Brazil always overcomes problems in tough matches."

"Serbia and Brazil showed again a great volleyball match. Was a hard game for both," said Serbian coach Igor Kolakovic. "Our team have so many young players and I think they grow up with this match. I expect they will play well against Venezuela in the next round of WL 2008."