Brazil crowned 2006 FIVB Men’s World Champions

Tokyo, 3rd December 2006 – Brazil easily brushed past Poland in the final of the 2006 FIVB Men’s World Championship to defend their title on Sunday. The team’s second consecutive World Championship gold medal maintains their position of leader in all international Volleyball events as reigning World, Olympic and World League Champions as well as World Cup Champions and World Grand Champions.

Brazil took total control over the game to secure the gold medal today against Poland at the Yoyogi National Stadium’s No. 1 Gymnasium in Tokyo. The 2002 World Champions defended their crown with an awesome display of power and precision to win 25-12, 25-22, 25-17 and had their fans dancing in the aisles long before the victory was complete. Brazil’s Giba took the 100,000 dollar individual award as Most Valuable Player (MVP) as the first choice of the coaches of the 12 finalist teams, the media and the FIVB Control Committee, each contributing a third of the total vote.

Bulgaria fought back from one-set down to beat Serbia-Montenegro 3-1 and claim the bronze medal. Bulgaria won 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 against fourth-ranked Serbia-Montenegro to finish with a 9-2 record and win their first World Championship medal in twenty years. Serbia-Montenegro ended with an 8-3 record and their fourth-place finish is the same as four years ago.

Italy swept France 3-0 to clinch fifth place. The European Champions won a fast-paced match 25-19, 25-17, 30-28, sealing victory on their fourth match point with a classic spike from Alessandro Fei, who finished third among the top scorers.

Russia ended Japan's hopes of finishing their World Championships on a high by claiming seventh place. The Russians looked comfortable as they took the first set, but a spirited fightback in the second brought Japan back into contention. Russia settled back into their rhythm, however, and came through to win the match 25-18, 22-25, 25-18, 25-17.

Germany beat USA 3-2 in a wonderful match to clinch ninth place. Germany won the first two sets, missed a match point in the third, and finally clinched it on their third match point of the tie-break, and fourth in all. The score was 25-17, 25-18, 25-27, 20-25, 17-15 to earn the 32nd-ranked Germans ninth position in their first appearance at the Worlds since 1994. The fifth-ranked Americans had to settle for 10th, one place lower than in 2002 and 1998.

Canada may not have achieved coach Glenn Hoag’s target of a top 10 finish, but at least they improved on their world ranking after beating 3-1 Puerto Rico in their final match of the World Championship. The No. 12 ranked Canadians finished in 11th position after winning 25-17, 18-25, 25-22, 25-21 to exact revenge after an earlier defeat by Puerto Rico and finished with a 5-6 record for the whole tournament. Puerto Rico finished 12th with a 4-7 record.



Individual awards



Most Valuable Player – Gilberto Godoy Filho (“Giba”) (BRA) USD 100,000

Best scorer – Hector Soto (PUR) USD 75,000

Best spiker – Dante Amaral Guimaraes (BRA) USD 50,000

Best blocker – Alexey Kuleshov (RUS) USD 50,000

Best server – Matey Kaziyski (BUL) USD 50,000

Best setter – Pawel Zagumny (POL) USD 50,000

Best libero – Alexey Verbov (RUS) USD 50,000