Brazil win men's Volleyball Nations League 2021 final
The win in Italy marks Brazil's first VNL title, as they become the first country to win all six major international crowns.
Volleyball
Olympic champions Brazil are the new Men's Volleyball Nations League champions after coming from behind to see off world champions Poland in the 2021 final in Rimini, Italy, 3–1 (22–25, 25–23, 25–16, 25–14).
The first two sets were tight, see-sawing affairs, with Poland – who beat Brazil in the bronze-medal playoff in 2019 – taking the opening frame.
But the Brazilians, keen to exact a small measure of revenge for that result, were the better team in the third and fourth sets.
Wallace de Souza led Brazil as top scorer with 22, with Yoandy Leal Hidalgo close behind on 17; for Poland Bartosz Kurek (17) and captain Michal Kubiak (15) led the way.
Ultimately, the match stats showed that Brazil had the upper hand, out-attacking the Poles 54–44 and out-blocking them 9–7.
The result extends Brazil's head-to-head record over Poland to 42–21 at major tournaments, and levels the record in finals to two wins each.
It is Brazil's first Volleyball Nations League title, and become the first team to win each of the six major international titles.
Earlier, France beat surprise package Slovenia 3–0 in the bronze-medal match (25–20, 25–18, 25–19).