Brazil - Bulgaria (World Grand Prix 2013, full match)

Congrats to Bulgaria! Brazil played a really poor match. Even though we’re missing some really important players (Jaqueline, Tandara, Natália, Fabi and Fabíola) and other are still recovering from injuries (Sheilla, Fabiana and Thaisa), Brazil had obligation to beat the Bulgarians. Sheilla played really bad. After a set and a half, she hadn’t scored a single point. Unbelievable! She didn’t even resemble the player who crashed the Russians in London when the opponents had six match points and she killed six balls in a row against triple blocks. Her sub, Monique, is too young and inexperienced, and she played bad, too – Tandara was missed heavily. Our left sides, Fernanda Garay (hello responsible for the description on v-m, she’s known as Garay, not Rodrigues) and Gabriela were absent. Coach José Roberto Guimarães summarized well the game panorama: “We gave the Bulgarians too many chances and they did what any good team would do by taking them”. No doubt, it was a well-deserved victory by Bulgaria. The Balkanians have a good team, with a well-balanced attack, they just need more improvement on defense. Marcello Abbondanza is doing a great job in Bulgaria. Hopefully he’ll take the best from Kitipova. Anyway, it’s kinda funny reading some people’s reaction on forums, making the common mistake of looking at the result and ignoring the game. lol Interesting fact: Before Saturday’s loss, Brazil had won 29 straight matches against opponents other than the USA. Their last loss in the World Grand Prix to a non-USA team was against Japan in August 2010. Definitely congrats to the Bulgarian girls!