Brazil, Russia, USA and Poland lead at FIVB World League

(BEIJING, July 8) -- Brazil, Russia, USA and Poland lead in their respective pools after the fourth weekend of the Intercontinental Round of the men's FIVB World League 2008.

In Pool A, host Serbia defeated seven-time World League champion Brazil 3-2 in Novi Sad on Sunday, July 6, after losing the previous match on July 4. The Brazilians have improved their win-loss record to 6-2 and remain at the top of the pool with 14 points.

In the other Pool A match, France pleased the home crowd with two 3-1 wins over Venezuela in Toulouse on the July 4-5 weekend. "Of course I'm very satisfied," said Philippe Blain, the French head coach. "We achieved our goals of the weekend. Now the team needs to rest before playing the last four games versus top-level teams."

2002 champion Russia beat Cuba 3-1 twice in Kazan, and improved their record to 7-1. Russia took first place in Pool B with 15 points. "I am pretty satisfied with its result," said Russian head coach Vladimir Alekno.

Italy had two 3-1 wins over the Republic of Korea, who has suffered eight straight losses and remains at the bottom of the pool.

In Pool C, the United States claimed 3-2 and 3-0 wins over Spain in Madrid to take first place with 15 points. "This victory was very important for our mentality, for our confidence, as we are evolving in our preparation for Olympic Games," said Hugh McCutcheon, the head coach of USA, after the first match.

After losing the first match to Bulgaria, the Finns bounced back to win their first game on Saturday, July 5, in this year's World League. Although still at the bottom of the pool, the Finland head coach Mauro Berruto was pleased and said, "This is our first victory and I am really happy. We have still much to do to improve our game."

Poland replaced China to lead in Pool D after two wins over China in Katowice on the July 4-5 weekend. Poland improved its record to 5-3, while China dropped to 4-4. "I think that today's match was on the level, it was much harder than yesterday," said Poland captain Piotr Gruszka after the second match. "China played really, really well and I'm happy that, in the end, we played better."

Japan completed a 3-2 and 3-1 double over Egypt in Komaki to finish third in the pool.

The winner of each pool, host Brazil and one wild card country chosen by the FIVB will enter the Final Round to compete for more than 20 million US dollars in Rio de Janeiro from July 23-27, 2008.