Ladies and gentlemen, the new Champion of the Volleyball world, dethroning the reigning champion, is Poland! With a close but convincing 3 – 1 victory over Brazil by scores of 18-25, 25-22, 25-23, and 25-22, Poland has climbed to the top of the very top of the world’s Volleyball rankings. Mika Mateusz led the Polish team with 22 points in the finals while probable Tournament MVP Mariusz Wlazly contributed 14 additional points for the victors. More than one-half million fans (563,263, to be precise) watched the matches during the 18 day and 103 match event.
Less than one year removed from playing Volleyball, 38 year old Stephane Antiga, in his first professional coaching assignment, steered the Polish men’s team to their first World Championship since 1974. It is widely speculated in Volleyball circles that Wlazly joined the Polish national team this year because of the choice of Antiga as the coach. The Polish team was nearly unbeatable on their home turf, losing only to the talented, but very inconsistent, USA team. Poland also recorded the only two victories over the second place Brazilian squad. The Polish victory ends a string of three consecutive World Championships for the Brazilian team which started in Argentina in 2002 and continued in both Japan in 2006 and Italy in 2010.
Germany swept France 3 – 0 in the third place match, 25-21, 26-24, and 25-23. This third place finish was the best ever recorded by the German team.
Two different sets of song lyrics come to mind, one for Brazil and one for Poland. For Brazil, “Sometimes goodbye is a second chance” from the song “Second Chance” by Shinedown. And for Poland, what else but “We are the champions, my friend” from the song “We Are the Champions” by Queen.
My thanks to all the teams and players who participated in this World Championship for the great Volleyball you gave us. Let’s grow the game together!
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